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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 91 records · Page 5

Transparent switchboard

A tin oxide coating is formed on a plate of glass and the coating is then etched away from the glass in thin lines to form separate electrical conductors which extend to one end of the plate and connect to either a vertical (column) or horizontal (row) position sensing SCR circuit. A thin transparent insulating coating is formed over the oxide layer except at selected touch points which are positioned in a matrix pattern of vertical columns and horizontal rows. Touching one of these points with a finger bridges the thin line between adjacent conductors to activate trigger circuits in the particular row and column sensing circuits associated with the point touched. The row and column sensing circuits are similar and are powered with a low frequency, ac voltage source. The source for the row circuits is 180 out of phase with the source for the column circuits so that one circuit acts as ground for the other during half of the supply voltage cycle. The signals from the sensing circuits are input to a logic circuit which determines the presence of a valid touch, stores a binary matrix number associated with the touched point, signals a computer of the presence of a stored number and prevents storage of a new number before receiving an enable signal from the computer.

Rasmussen, H. P.↗

High reliability megawatt transformer/rectifier

The goal of the two phase program is to develop the technology and design and fabricate ultralightweight high reliability DC to DC converters for space power applications. The converters will operate from a 5000 V dc source and deliver 1 MW of power at 100 kV dc. The power weight density goal is 0.1 kg/kW. The cycle to cycle voltage stability goals was + or - 1 percent RMS. The converter is to operate at an ambient temperature of -40 C with 16 minute power pulses and one hour off time. The uniqueness of the design in Phase 1 resided in the dc switching array which operates the converter at 20 kHz using Hollotron plasma switches along with a specially designed low loss, low leakage inductance and a light weight high voltage transformer. This approach reduced considerably the number of components in the converter thereby increasing the system reliability. To achieve an optimum transformer for this application, the design uses four 25 kV secondary windings to produce the 100 kV dc output, thus reducing the transformer leakage inductance, and the ac voltage stresses. A specially designed insulation system improves the high voltage dielectric withstanding ability and reduces the insulation path thickness thereby reducing the component weight. Tradeoff studies and tests conducted on scaled-down model circuits and using representative coil insulation paths have verified the calculated transformer wave shape parameters and the insulation system safety. In Phase 1 of the program a converter design approach was developed and a preliminary transformer design was completed. A fault control circuit was designed and a thermal profile of the converter was also developed.

Zwass, Samuel↗

Effect of Polymer Electrode Morphology on Performance of a Lithium/Polypyrrole Battery

A variety of conducting polymer batteries were described in the recent literature. In this work, a Li/Polypyrrole secondary battery is described. The effect of controlling the morphology of the polymer on enhancement of counterion diffusion in the polymer phase is explored. A method of preparing conducting polymers was developed which yields high surface area per unit volume of electrode material. A porous membrane is used as a template in which to electrochemically polymerize pyrrole, then the membrane is dissolved, leaving the polymer in a fibrillar form. Conventionally, the polymer is electrochemically polymerized as a dense polymer film on a smooth Pt disk electrode. Previous work has shown that when the polymer is electrochemically polymerized in fribrillar form, charge transport rates are faster and charge capacities are greater than for dense, conventionally grown films containing the same amount of polymer. The purpose is to expand previous work by further investigating the possibilities of the optimization of transport rates in polypyrrole films by controlling the morphology of the films. The utility of fibrillar polypyrrole as a cathode material in a lithium/polymer secondary battery is then assessed. The performance of the fibrillar battery is compared to the performance of an analogous battery which employed a conventionally grown polypyrrole film. The study includes a comparison of cyclic voltammetry, shape of charge/discharge curves, discharge time and voltage, cycle life, coulombic efficiencies, charge capacities, energy densities, and energy efficiencies.

Nicholson, Marjorie Anne↗

A stable cathode-solid electrolyte composite for high-voltage, long-cycle-life solid-state sodium-ion batteries

Rechargeable solid-state sodium-ion batteries (SSSBs) hold great promise for safer and more energy-dense energy storage. However, the poor electrochemical stability between current sulfide-based solid electrolytes and high-voltage oxide cathodes has limited their long-term cycling performance and practicality. Here, we report the discovery of the ion conductor Na 3-x Y 1-x Zr x Cl 6 (NYZC) that is both electrochemically stable (up to 3.8 V vs. Na/Na + ) and chemically compatible with oxide cathodes. Its high ionic conductivity of 6.6 × 10 –5 S cm –1 at ambient temperature, several orders of magnitude higher than oxide coatings, is attributed to abundant Na vacancies and cooperative MCl 6 rotation, resulting in an extremely low interfacial impedance. A SSSB comprising a NaCrO 2 + NYZC composite cathode, Na 3 PS 4 electrolyte, and Na-Sn anode exhibits an exceptional first-cycle Coulombic efficiency of 97.1% at room emperature and can cycle over 1000 cycles with 89.3% capacity retention at 40 °C. These findings highlight the immense potential of halides for SSSB applications.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Voltage decay and redox asymmetry mitigation by reversible cation migration in lithium-rich layered oxide electrodes

Despite the high energy density of lithium-rich layered-oxide electrodes, their real-world implementation in batteries is hindered by the substantial voltage decay on cycling. This voltage decay is widely accepted to mainly originate from progressive structural rearrangements involving irreversible transition-metal migration. As prevention of this spontaneous cation migration has proven difficult, a paradigm shift toward management of its reversibility is needed. Herein, we demonstrate that the reversibility of the cation migration of lithium-rich nickel manganese oxides can be remarkably improved by altering the oxygen stacking sequences in the layered structure and thereby dramatically reducing the voltage decay. The preeminent intra-cycle reversibility of the cation migration is experimentally visualized, and first-principles calculations reveal that an O2-type structure restricts the movements of transition metals within the Li layer, which effectively streamlines the returning migration path of the transition metals. Furthermore, we propose that the enhanced reversibility mitigates the asymmetry of the anionic redox in conventional lithium-rich electrodes, promoting the high-potential anionic reduction, thereby reducing the subsequent voltage hysteresis. Our findings demonstrate that regulating the reversibility of the cation migration is a practical strategy to reduce voltage decay and hysteresis in lithium-rich layered materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Toward Stable, High‐Energy, Partially Disordered Mn‐Rich Spinel Cathodes by Revealing and Mitigating Surface Degradation

Mn-rich cathodes balance performance and sustainability but suffer from limited cyclability due to Mn dissolution and cathode-to-anode crosstalk. The Jahn-Teller (J-T) effect of Mn 3+ is often linked to the above phenomena, such as in spinel LiMn 2 O 4 . However, in typical voltage ranges, significant Mn 3+ only appears near the end of discharge, highlighting the need to reassess its role in driving Mn dissolution, structural degradation, and battery performance. Here, the spinel cathode's degree of disorder is tailored to expand the Mn redox range, enabling segmentation into J-T active and less active voltage ranges. Cycling at segmented voltage windows reveals surface degradation mechanisms with and without the major J-T effect. Despite a stronger J-T effect below 3.6 V vs. Li/Li + , Mn dissolution is less significant than above 3.6 V. Expanding the cycling window to 2.0–4.3 V causes severe degradation as the J-T active range induces a tetragonal phase and Mn 2+ -rich surface, driving Mn dissolution and consuming Li-ion inventory in full cells. Reducing electrolyte acidity minimizes Mn 3+ disproportionation, enabling a stable dopant-free Mn-only cathode with a 250 mAh g −1 specific capacity. These findings demonstrate that full cells using Mn-rich cathodes have the potential to avoid the notorious crosstalk problem through electrolyte engineering.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

NASA/GSFC Testing of Li-Ion Cells: Update

This viewgraph paper presents a report on the ongoing testing of Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) cells. Characterizes cells according to capacity, self-discharge, and mid-discharge voltage. Determines the cycling performance of Li-Ion cells as batteries according to number of cycles, charge voltage, and temperature.

Vaidyanathan, Hari↗

Evaluation of Cathode Materials with Lithium-Metal Anodes: Baseline Performance and Protocol Standardization of Coin Cells

The collaborative evaluation of electrode materials across multiple research entities requires standardized electrochemical testing protocols to produce reliable, one-to-one comparisons between different systems of interest. Similar to the work done by Long et al. on protocol standardization for coin-cell testing with graphite anodes [J. Electrochem. Soc., 163, A2999, (2016)], here we introduce two standardized testing protocols designed to quickly evaluate important electrochemical properties of cathode materials using lithium-metal anodes. The two protocols measure kinetic and thermodynamic capacity losses, rate- and voltage-dependent cycling capacities, instabilities at high voltage and high cycling rate, and overpotentials at various states of charge. We then apply these protocols to four commercially available cathode materials to establish benchmark performance metrics that can be used to screen and evaluate new cathode materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Superior long-term cycling of high-voltage lithium-ion batteries enabled by single-solvent electrolyte

A new single-solvent electrolyte system comprising lithium bis(fluorosuflonyl) imide (LiFSI) and beta-fluorinated sulfone (TFPMS) was designed to enable very stable long-term cycling of high-voltage lithium-ion batteries. Compared to other fluorinated solvents such as alpha-fluorinated sulfone (FMES) and fluorinated carbonate (FEMC), which are prone to reduction on the graphite anode, the LiFSI-TFPMS system displayed outstanding compatibility with graphite. While regular carbonate and sulfone from the LiFSI electrolyte system are compatible with the graphite anode, their high solvating power not only induces severe corrosion on the aluminum cathode current collector at high voltage, but also renders a low aggregation level at a normal salt concentration (about 1.0 M), resulting in the formation of an unstable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the graphite anode. Owing to the low solvating power of TFPMS, the aggregation level of the LiFSI-TFPMS system is relatively high even at normal salt concentration, which not only facilitates the formation of a robust SEI by the sacrificial decomposition of LiFSI, but also suppresses the aluminum corrosion of the LiFSI electrolyte system at high voltage. Together with the high intrinsic anodic stability of TFPMS, the superior cycling performance of graphite parallel to LiNi 0.6 Co 0.2 Mn 0.2 O 2 cells was achieved by employing the non-flammable LiFSI-TFPMS single-solvent electrolyte system.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Steric Effect Tuned Ion Solvation Enabling Stable Cycling of High-Voltage Lithium Metal Battery

1,2-Dimethoxyethane (DME) is a common electrolyte solvent for lithium metal batteries. Various DME-based electrolyte designs have improved long-term cyclability of high-voltage full cells. However, insufficient Coulombic efficiency at the Li anode and poor high-voltage stability remain a challenge for DME electrolytes. Here, we report a molecular design principle that utilizes a steric hindrance effect to tune the solvation structures of Li + ions. In this work, we hypothesized that by substituting the methoxy groups on DME with larger-sized ethoxy groups, the resulting 1,2-diethoxyethane (DEE) should have a weaker solvation ability and consequently more anion-rich inner solvation shells, both of which enhance interfacial stability at the cathode and anode. Experimental and computational evidence indicates such steric-effect-based design leads to an appreciable improvement in electrochemical stability of lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI)/DEE electrolytes. Under stringent full-cell conditions of 4.8 mAh cm –2 NMC811, 50 μm thin Li, and high cutoff voltage at 4.4 V, 4 M LiFSI/DEE enabled 182 cycles until 80% capacity retention while 4 M LiFSI/DME only achieved 94 cycles. This work points out a promising path toward the molecular design of non-fluorinated ether-based electrolyte solvents for practical high-voltage Li metal batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Characterization of prototype secondary lithium battery

The performance characteristics of ambient temperature secondary lithium batteries were determined through continuous cycle tests with periodic current and voltage measurements. Cycle life of the lithium anode was found to be an important problem area as was the formation of dentrite breakage and subsequent shorting. Energy density was increased by using more efficient cathode structures.

Somoano, R.↗

NASA/GSFC Testing of Li-ion Cells: Update

A viewgraph presentation outlines: (1) cell characteristics, including capacity, self-discharge, and mid-discharge voltage; and (2) a determination of cycling performance as a battery pack, including details on number of cycles, charge voltage, and temperature, for prismatic cells (20 AH Yardney and 1.5 AH Wilson Greatbatch), cylindrical cells (12 AH, 4 AH, and 1.25 AH SAFT), and polymer cells (3 AH Alliant Tech and 8 AH Lithium Technology, Inc.).

Vaidyanathan, Hari↗

Low temperature sodium battery comprising an electrochemically active molten inorganic catholyte

A high-performance electrochemically active sodium molten salt catholyte enables a dramatic reduction in molten sodium battery operating temperature from near 300° C. to less than 120° C. As an example, stable electrochemical cycling was demonstrated in a high voltage (3.65 V) sodium battery comprising a sodium iodide-gallium chloride (NaI—GaCl 3 ) molten salt catholyte for over 8 months at 110° C. The combination of high voltage, stable cycling behavior, and practical current densities supported by a molten catholyte enables a new generation of transformative high performance, low temperature molten sodium batteries.

Spoerke, Erik D.↗

Multifunctional Films Deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition for Tailored Interfaces of Electrochemical Systems

A new strategy for electrochemical interfaces that utilizes multilayer films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is introduced. Manganese-rich and nickel-rich cathode oxides were coated with a novel bilayer film of metal fluorides. Subsequent exposure to prolonged, high-voltage electrochemical cycling vs graphite electrodes revealed that the bilayer film can greatly enhance the high-voltage stability of cathode oxides. In particular, in manganese-rich cells, capacity fade due to manganese dissolution was substantially reduced and impedance rise was virtually eliminated. Furthermore, in nickel-rich NMC-811 cells, impedance rise was reduced by ~80%, compared to the NMC-811 baseline, after ~300 h of high-voltage exposure during cycling. Here, the multilayer film strategy presents an exciting opportunity for tailoring designs and materials for electrochemical interfaces in advanced lithium-ion batteries and beyond.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Nonsolvating Fluoroaromatic Cosolvent Enabled Long-Term Cycling of High-Voltage Lithium-Ion Batteries with Organosulfur Electrolytes

Here, the structure–activity relationships of nonsolvating cosolvents for organosulfur-based electrolyte systems were revealed. The performance of nonsolvating dilutant fluorobenzene (FB) was compared to various fluorinated ether dilutants in high-voltage electrolytes containing a concentration of 1.2 M LiPF 6 dissolved in fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), ethyl methyl sulfone (EMS), and the dilutant. In a high-voltage and high-loading LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 (NMC811) full cell configuration, the organosulfur-based electrolyte containing FB dilutant enabled superior electrochemical performance compared to the electrolytes using other nonsolvating fluorinated ether formulations. Moreover, the FB-containing electrolyte exhibited the highest ionic conductivity and lowest viscosity among all organosulfur-based electrolytes containing nonsolvating dilutant. These improvements are attributed to the enhanced physical properties of electrolyte and lithium-ion mobility. Furthermore, by employing first-principles simulations, the observed suppression of side reactions at high voltage is linked to FB’s lower reactivity toward singlet dioxygen, which is likely produced at the NMC interface. Overall, FB is considered an excellent diluent that does not impede cell operation by mass decomposition at the cathode.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗