TDA RESEARCH, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: DLA203-004

Description

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are now one of the major power storage solutions; they are used in portable electronics, electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems. Also, many weapons now depend on LIBs to power their systems. Unfortunately, the US military is particularly vulnerable to supply shortages of the active components needed for LIBs because virtually all large-scale production of electrode materials is done outside the US. In addition, many types of LIBs also incorporate cobalt into their cathode. Cobalt is expensive with a limited supply, and shortages are expected. As a result, there is a great need for cathode materials that result in high energy batteries that are cobalt free, readily available in the US, and that are safe and inexpensive.   The technical objective of the project is to develop an efficient low-cost method for producing large quantities of high-quality lithium iron phosphate (LFP), a cobalt free, high performance and inexpensive cathode material. To accomplish this objective, we will design and build a continuous pilot-scale production process for LFP. We will evaluate the LFP cathode materials by characterizing their physical and chemical structures and evaluate their electrochemical performance in the battery coin cells. We will then estimate the total costs (materials, capital equipment) of our LFP production process.