SBIR-STTR Award

Increasingly strict environmental regulations, along with surging energy demand and oil prices, have given rise to a growing demand for efficient, clean, and renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy. Electricity generated from these renewable sources, however, suffers the drawback of fluctuation. To solve this problem, a low cost, reliable, long life and efficient electrical energy storage system is needed to ensure 24/7 reliability for commercial and residential grid applications. One possible solution is to replace the aqueous KOH electrolyte with a solid polymer electrolyte. However, low ionic conductivity, lack of structure integrity, and very limited availability of solid polymer electrolyte membranes prevent their widespread adoption. This project will develop a novel hydroxyl conductive membrane that has the characteristics of (1) high ionic conductivity; (2) good thermal, chemical, and electrochemical stability; (3) scalability for large-quantity manufacturing; and 4) low cost.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The membrane should enable a very simple biopolar battery design, leading to a battery with very high power density, and long life and cycle performance. The membrane could be used not only as an energy storage system for load leveling of electricity generated from renewable sources, but also for application in NiMH batteries that already have been commercialized for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) or plug-in HEVs.

Increasingly, strict environmental regulations, surging energy demand and oil prices, and the proliferation of the internet and electronic devices have given rise to a growing market demand for efficient, clean, and renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy. However, the electricity generated from these renewable sources suffers from the drawback of fluctuation. To solve this problem, a low cost, reliable, long life, and efficient electrical energy storage (EES) system is sought to ensure 24/­7 reliability for commercial and residential grid applications. One option is to use alkaline-based rechargeable batteries, such as Ni­MH, provided that issues of performance, safety, and cost effectiveness can be addressed. This project will investigate replacing the aqueous KOH electrolyte with a solid polymer electrolyte. Phase I developed a novel hydroxyl conductive membrane with the following characteristics: (1) high ionic conductivity; (2) good thermal, chemical, and electrochemical stability; (3) scalable for large quantity manufacturing; (4) good compatibility with other cell components; and (5) low cost. Bipolar cell stacks were fabricated with this membrane, and excellent electrochemical performance was obtained. In Phase II, the hydroxyl conductive membrane will be incorporated into a unique bipolar Ni­MH battery.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The membrane not only should find use as the energy storage system for load leveling of electricity generated from renewable sources, but also could be used in Ni­MH batteries that already have been commercialized in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). In the future, it also could be used as the energy storage device in plug-­in HEVs