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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Achieving Stable Molybdenum Oxide Cathodes for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries in Water-in-Salt Electrolyte

A layered MoO 3 material with large interlayer spacing represents a promising cathode for aqueous rechargeable Zn-ion batteries (ARZIBs), but the implementation of this material is limited due to the intrinsically low conductivity and poor structural stability. A 30 m ZnCl 2 water-in-salt electrolyte (WISE) was introduced to a MoO 3 nanobelt cathode for the first time, significantly increasing the stability of MoO 3 cathodes compared to those in 3 M ZnSO 4 and 3 M ZnCl2 electrolyte. The Zn/MoO 3 cell in WISE unambiguously demonstrated significantly improved rate performance delivering 349, 253, and 222 mAh/g at 100, 500, and 1000 mA/g, denoting a 2×, and 12× capacity increase of those achieved in 3 M electrolytes at 500 and 1000 mA/g, respectively. A capacity retention rate of 73% was achieved after (dis)charging at 100 mA/g for 100 cycles, and no obvious capacity fading was observed at higher current densities of 500 mA/g and 2A/g. A compilation of structural and morphological characterization was systematically performed to provide insight into the mechanisms of the improved performance in ZnCl 2 WISE for the MoO3 cathode materials. Specifically, our data collectively suggested that the drastic fading in 3M electrolytes can be attributed to the parasitic surface deposits on Zn originated from Mo dissolution and H 2 formation due to Zn corrosion and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which were significantly suppressed in the ZnCl 2 WISE. The direct visualization of these side reactions was achieved for the first time in the Zn-MoO 3 system, using an in situ optoelectrochemical measurement.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tunable Lithium-Ion Transport in Mixed-Halide Argyrodites Li 6–x PS 5–x ClBr x : An Unusual Compositional Space

Argyrodites, with fast lithium-ion conduction, are promising for applications in rechargeable solid-state lithium-ion batteries. In this article, we report a new compositional space of argyrodite superionic conductors, Li 6– x PS 5– x ClBr x [0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8], with a remarkably high ionic conductivity of 24 mS/cm at 25 °C for Li 5.3 PS 4.3 ClBr 0.7 . In addition, the extremely low lithium migration barrier of 0.155 eV makes Li 5.3 PS 4.3 ClBr 0.7 highly promising for low-temperature operation. Average and local structure analyses reveal that bromination ( x > 0) leads to (i) retention of the parent Li 6 PS 5 Cl structure for a wide range of x in Li 6– x PS 5– x ClBr x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.7), (ii) co-occupancy of Cl – , Br – , and S 2– at 4a/4d sites, and (iii) gradually increased Li + -ion dynamics, eventually yielding a “liquid-like” Li-sublattice with a flattened energy landscape when x approaches 0.7. In addition, the diversity of anion species and Li-deficiency in halogen-rich Li 6– x PS 5– x ClBr x induce hypercoordination and coordination entropy for the Li-sublattice, also leading to enhanced Li + -ion transport in Li 6– x PS 5– x ClBr x . This study demonstrates that mixed-anion framework can help stabilize highly conductive structures in a compositional space otherwise unstable with lower anion diversity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reinforced AEM Separators Based on Triblock Copolymers for Electrode-decoupled RFBs

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), in collaboration with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Giner Inc. developed highly selective anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and a novel electrode-decoupled redox flow battery (RFB) for grid scale energy storage as part of the ARPA-E IONICS program (with connections to the DAYS program in the later part of the project). RFBs exhibit the crucial characteristic of system-level decoupled scaling of energy and power which makes them cost effective for the multi-GWh scales envisioned for grid-scale energy storage solutions. This has led to extensive (and deserved) research interest and attention. This project aimed to enhance the design space available for redox-flow batteries (RFBs) by enabling the long-term separation of disparate cationic (elemental) actives using a highly selective membrane separator, while concurrently permitting the transport of anions to balance charge. The approach proposed was to design and develop a highly selective anion-exchange membrane (AEM), which would in turn permit the design and development of electrode-decoupled RFBs. Pairs of (different element) cationic species with redox reactions exhibiting a large difference in their standard electrode potentials were identified to develop high voltage, high power RFBs while disrupting the existing paradigm of using a single element which can ionize to more than two soluble oxidation states (e.g.: Vanadium).

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

The multifunctional use of an aqueous battery for a high capacity jellyfish robot

The batteries that power untethered underwater vehicles (UUVs) serve a single purpose: to provide energy to electronics and motors; the more energy required, the bigger the robot must be to accommodate space for more energy storage. By choosing batteries composed primarily of liquid media [e.g., redox flow batteries (RFBs)], the increased weight can be better distributed for improved capacity with reduced inertial moment. Here, we formed an RFB into the shape of a jellyfish, using two redox chemistries and architectures: (i) a secondary ZnBr 2 battery and (ii) a hybrid primary/secondary ZnI 2 battery. A UUV was able to be powered solely by RFBs with increased volumetric (Q~ 11 ampere-hours per liter) and areal (108 milliampere-hours per square centimeter) energy density, resulting in a long operational lifetime (T~ 1.5 hours) for UUVs composed of primarily electrochemically energy-dense liquid (~90% of the robot’s weight).

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Rice Business Plan Competition (Final Report)

During the grant period, Rice University held a total of three regional Clean Energy Business Plan Competitions for graduate level students with a particular focus on attracting student startups in the clean energy space (clean tech, renewable energy, transportation, batteries, sustainability, etc.) Over the three years of the grant, the Rice Business Plan Competition awarded a total of three ${$}$50,000 DOE-sponsored prizes to the winning startups (${$}$150,000 total). The Rice Energy Business Plan Competition’s DOE Clean Tech competition leveraged the resources and infrastructure of the existing annual Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC), which is the world’s largest and richest intercollegiate graduate-level business plan competition in the world

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tin-graphene tubes as anodes for lithium-ion batteries with high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities

Limited by the size of microelectronics, as well as the space of electrical vehicles, there are tremendous demands for lithium-ion batteries with high volumetric energy densities. Current lithium-ion batteries, however, adopt graphite-based anodes with low tap density and gravimetric capacity, resulting in poor volumetric performance metric. Here, by encapsulating nanoparticles of metallic tin in mechanically robust graphene tubes, we show tin anodes with high volumetric and gravimetric capacities, high rate performance, and long cycling life. Pairing with a commercial cathode material LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2, full cells exhibit a gravimetric and volumetric energy density of 590 W h Kg-1 and 1,252 W h L-1 , respectively, the latter of which doubles that of the cell based on graphite anodes. This work provides an effective route towards lithium-ion batteries with high energy density for a broad range of applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Project Planning for Community Resilience: Aquinnah and Chilmark, Massachusetts

This report presents the findings of an energy system planning study for the towns of Aquinnah and Chilmark, MA, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, conducted under the U.S. Department of Energy ETIPP program. The study used the DER-CAM model to optimize the deployment of PV and battery microgrids to enhance energy resilience against power outages, particularly winter storms. Key findings show that PV is highly cost-effective and delivers net annual savings. However, due to limited rooftop space and low winter solar output, PV and battery storage alone cannot support the full critical load during outages. Solutions incorporating conventional backup generators were found to be more economically viable for achieving 100% critical load support.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

CHARACTERIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALL–AQUEOUS COPPER THERMALLY REGENERATIVE AMMONIA BATTERY

Low temperature thermal energy is an abundant and untapped energy source for large scale electrical power and energy production around the world. Many different stationary sources such as industrial and thermal power plants produce significant amounts of low temperature heat that goes unused. The primary reason for the energy loss is because the temperature of the heat is often too low for traditional systems to economically generate power from this waste heat. Many different technologies are being researched to produce grid–scale power from low temperature heat to increase grid efficiency, advance decarbonization efforts, and progress electrical power production to a more distributed system. A thermally regenerative battery (TRB) is one promising technology in this space, as it has large power and energy densities relative to competitive technologies and therefore has the potential to disrupt the current power generation mix. TRBs combine two unit operations (a redox flow battery and a distillation column) which are easily scalable and mature, meaning that if a viable TRB chemistry can be identified, its development to pilot and commercial scale can be streamlined. The all–aqueous, copper thermally regenerative ammonia battery (Cuaq–TRAB) was the first TRB that did not use an electrodeposition/dissolution reaction by stabilizing Cu(I) and Cu(II) in the electrolyte, allowing all electroactive species to be stable in an aqueous phase. Through these electrolyte modifications, coulombic efficiency, open circuit potential, and copper solubility all increased, resulting in large gains to power density, energy density, and energy efficiency.

Cross, Nicholas↗
DOE OSTI2024

Leveraging Temperature-Dependent (Electro)Chemical Kinetics for High-Throughput Flow Battery Characterization

The library of redox-active organics that are potential candidates for electrochemical energy storage in flow batteries is exceedingly vast, necessitating high-throughput characterization of molecular lifetimes. Demonstrated extremely stable chemistries require accurate yet rapid cell cycling tests, a demand often frustrated by time-denominated capacity fade mechanisms. We have developed a high-throughput setup for elevated temperature cycling of redox flow batteries, providing a new dimension in characterization parameter space to explore. We utilize it to evaluate capacity fade rates of aqueous redox-active organic molecules, as functions of temperature. We demonstrate Arrhenius-like behavior in the temporal capacity fade rates of multiple flow battery electrolytes, permitting extrapolation to lower operating temperatures. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of accelerated decomposition protocols to expedite the screening process of candidate molecules for long lifetime flow batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modeling the electrical double layer at solid-state electrochemical interfaces

Models of the electrical double layer (EDL) at electrode/liquid-electrolyte interfaces no longer hold for all-solid-state electrochemistry. Here we show a more general model for the EDL at a solid-state electrochemical interface based on the Poisson–Fermi–Dirac equation. By combining this model with density functional theory predictions, the interconnected electronic and ionic degrees of freedom in all-solid-state batteries, including the electronic band bending and defect concentration variation in the space-charge layer, are captured self-consistently. Along with a general mathematical solution, the EDL structure is presented in various materials that are thermodynamically stable in contact with a lithium metal anode: the solid electrolyte Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 (LLZO) and the solid interlayer materials LiF, Li 2 O and Li 2 CO 3 . Here, the model further allows design of the optimum interlayer thicknesses to minimize the electrostatic barrier for lithium ion transport at relevant solid-state battery interfaces.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Discovery of structure–property relations for molecules via hypothesis-driven active learning over the chemical space

The discovery of the molecular candidates for application in drug targets, biomolecular systems, catalysts, photovoltaics, organic electronics, and batteries necessitates the development of machine learning algorithms capable of rapid exploration of chemical spaces targeting the desired functionalities. Here, we introduce a novel approach for active learning over the chemical spaces based on hypothesis learning. We construct the hypotheses on the possible relationships between structures and functionalities of interest based on a small subset of data followed by introducing them as (probabilistic) mean functions for the Gaussian process. This approach combines the elements from the symbolic regression methods, such as SISSO and active learning, into a single framework. The primary focus of constructing this framework is to approximate physical laws in an active learning regime toward a more robust predictive performance, as traditional evaluation on hold-out sets in machine learning does not account for out-of-distribution effects which may lead to a complete failure on unseen chemical space. Here, we demonstrate it for the QM9 dataset, but it can be applied more broadly to datasets from both domains of molecular and solid-state materials sciences.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Technology Evaluation of the Yotta SolarLEAF: A Panel-Based Thermally Managed Battery Module

In 2019, the United States installed 13.3 gigawatts of solar energy production capacity. This demand for solar will continually increase as the phasing out of fossil fuels continue. As the demand for solar energy grows, so does the demand to store this generated energy. It is projected that by 2035 the global demand for stationary energy storage will reach the terawatt scale. So, scalable solutions with suitable thermal management systems are required to meet future demand. Yotta Solar has developed an ESS system, the Yotta LEAF, that provides solar energy storage without increasing the footprint of solar arrays. This is particularly useful in applications with limited space (e.g., building roof) and where large scale batteries require strong requirements for fire suppression systems. As part of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has conducted a third-party technology validation of Yotta's alpha prototype. The report includes the objectives, technology description, methodology, and results from experiments conducted at the Thermal Transfer Facility (TTF) at NREL.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Alternative Power and Propulsion for Space Systems

What are the main sources of power and propulsion for space systems and what are their advantages, disadvantages, how do they work, and what are the politics behind them? The following topics will be analyzed solar panels, batteries, radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), advanced Stirling radioscopic generator (ASRG), reactors, nuclear thermal rockets (NTP), thermionic experiment with conversion (TOPAZ), electrothermal plasma thruster (VASIMR), ion propulsion, and finally nuclear pulse propulsion. The production of Pu-238 is extremely controversial but a vital source of fuel for many of these space systems. Soral and Batteries are the most common and the least controversial forms of power used in space systems today. However, is ineffective for deep space exploration as they only function for up to four years without needing to be recharged. This is where nuclear systems come into play. Nuclear systems such as an RTG will “live” up to 88 years. For example, Voyager 1 is powered by an RTG It has been traveling since 1977 and has left out solar system in 2012 and has yet to run out of power. However, this type of technology (nuclear) has many hurtles it needs to jump through before advancements in can go much further.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Composite Solid Ion Conductor with Engineered Lithium Interface

Successful widespread commercialization of electric vehicles is contingent upon development of safe high energy density batteries capable of long cycle life. Lithium metal affords the highest theoretical capacity (3,860 mAh/g) and lowest electrochemical potential (-3.04V vs SHE), which offers the highest specific energy density of anode materials today. While Li-ion batteries are capable of delivering energy densities of 400-600 Wh/kg, the development of lithium metal batteries such as Li-S and Li-air may boost this number up to 650 and 950 Wh/kg, respectively. However, significant progress towards the passivation of lithium metal must occur before the energy density benefit can be realized. Issues with lithium dendrite formation, anode volume expansion, and continuous solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) build-up often result in significant safety concerns, high cell resistance, and poor cycle life. The intrinsic high reactivity between lithium metal with conventional lithium ion electrolytes (organic carbonate-based solvents) makes it extremely difficult to overcome these problems. In this project, Wildcat performed focused, fundamental research and development on composite polymer/ceramic electrolytes and protected lithium metal anodes to develop an all solid state lithium metal battery targeting the DOE requirements to enable commercialization. Wildcat successfully leveraged its high throughput battery platform and explored a broad composite electrolyte compositional space. Additionally, Wildcat screened large numbers of inorganic and organic coatings for lithium metal protection using in situ liquid methods and translated the best results to all solid cells. The proposed composite polymer/ceramic electrolyte and a protected lithium metal anode enabled a solid-state lithium metal battery. The ultimate targets from this effort will deliver a safe all solid-state lithium metal pouch cell with over 350 Wh/kg and over 1,000 cycles (C/3) with the cost estimate below $100/kWh. During the course of the project, we demonstrated stable cycling of 10’s of cycles with the composite SSE and our protected lithium. The work has continued after the conclusion of the DOE funding, demonstrating further improvements in catholyte composition and thinner composite solid electrolytes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Acoustophoretic Additive Manufacturing for Scalable 3D Battery Electrodes

This project focused on investigating two acoustic-based processing methods: a nozzle-based printhead and a chamber that map to two different battery electrode architectures: (1) a line-pattern electrode and (2) a grid-pattern electrode. These two parallel manufacturing and electrode geometry explorations were proposed for the project to understand the process space of acoustic-based manufacturing methods to fabricate patterned battery electrodes. This two-path exploration also allowed us to de-risk the overall project and not rely on a single process for creating patterned electrodes. This project consisted of six high-level tasks aimed at transitioning the concept of acoustic focusing for battery electrodes from a technology readiness level (TRL) of 1 to 3 by project conclusion. Overall, we believe we have developed a practical and high-impact processing method that is chemistry agnostic and suitable for large-area fabrication of both 3D LIBs and other functional material systems where structuring on the scale of tens of microns has the potential to break conventional bulk material trade-offs in performance. In the case of batteries for electric vehicles, structuring 3D LIBs with our acoustic process breaks traditional energy and power trade-offs observed with conventional flat battery packs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

KVOPO 4 cathode for sodium ion batteries

An electrode comprising: NaVOPO 4 having orthorhombic crystalline symmetry and space group Pna2 1 , as an active intercalation host material, wherein the electrode is capable of electrochemical insertion and release of greater than one sodium ion per vanadium, wherein the NaVOPO 4 is formed by a solid phase synthesis process from a heated powdered mixture of ammonium metavanadate, ammonium phosphate monobasic, and potassium carbonate, to yield NaVOPO 4 having corner-sharing VO 6 octahedra and PO 4 tetrahedra, defining two types of tunnels comprising a first type of tunnel formed of rings of two PO 4 tetrahedra and a second type of tunnel formed of rings of three PO 4 tetrahedra and three VO 6 octahedra, followed by substitution of the potassium ions with sodium ions.

Whittingham, M. Stanley↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data-driven Whitney forms for structure-preserving control volume analysis

Control volume analysis models physics via the exchange of generalized fluxes between subdomains. Here, we introduce a scientific machine learning framework adopting a partition of unity architecture to identify physically-relevant control volumes, with generalized fluxes between subdomains encoded via Whitney forms. The approach provides a differentiable parameterization of geometry which may be trained in an end-to-end fashion to extract reduced models from full field data while exactly preserving physics. The architecture admits a data-driven finite element exterior calculus allowing discovery of mixed finite element spaces with closed form quadrature rules. An equivalence between Whitney forms and graph networks reveals that the geometric problem of control volume learning is equivalent to an unsupervised graph discovery problem. The framework is developed for manifolds in arbitrary dimension, with examples provided for H(div) problems in $\mathbb{R}$ establishing convergence and structure preservation properties. Finally, we consider a lithium-ion battery problem where we discover a reduced finite element space encoding transport pathways from high-fidelity microstructure resolved simulations. The approach reduces the 5.89M finite element simulation to 136 elements while reproducing pressure to under 0.1% error and preserving conservation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Size and Charge Effects on Crossover of Flow Battery Reactants Evaluated by Quinone Permeabilities Through Nafion

Organic reactants are promising candidates for long-lifetime redox flow batteries, and synthetic chemistry unlocks a wide design space for new molecules. Minimizing crossover of these molecules through ion exchange membranes is one important design consideration, but the ways in which the crossover rate depends on the structure of the crossing species remain unclear. Here, we contribute a systematic evaluation of size- and charge-based effects on dilute-solution small molecule permeability through the Nafion NR212 cation exchange membrane. We found that increasing the magnitude of charge number z with the same sign as membrane fixed charges, achieved here by successive sulfonation of quinone redox cores, results in more than an order of magnitude permeability reduction per sulfonate. Size-based effects, understood by comparing the Stokes radii of the quinones studied, also reduces permeability with increasing effective molecule size, but doubling the effective size of the redox reactants resulted in a permeability decrease of less than a factor of three.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗