NSF Award
0091492
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop novel nano-structured solvent free polymer electrolytes for solid state Li-ion batteries. The important characteristics of these electrolytes are that they are of high ionic conductivity and have excellent mechanical strength. The combination of these properties results from an ordered structure on the nanometer scale, consisting of a co-continuous network of an epoxy scaffold and a polymer electrolyte. This unique structure is obtained by self-assembly during curing of the epoxy in the presence of a partially emersiable block copolymer containing the ion-conducting phase. Polymer electrolyte batteries based on the new electrolytes promise great configuration flexibility in design and substantially increased energy density. <br/><br/>The new polymer electrolytes will permit fabrication of high performance Li- ion batteries for use in portable consumer products such as cellular telephones, portable power tools, video cameras and laptop computers. Other applications include "dye sensitized solar cells", and electrochromic devices.
