| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 17, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | October 6, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1831078 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Anna Brady-Estevez
TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $722,669.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,058,951.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $191,750.00 FY 2021 = $144,532.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1301 S 46TH ST # 478 RICHMOND CA US 94804-4600 (510)409-7499 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
820 Heinz Avenue Berkeley CA US 94710-2737 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | SBIR Phase II |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is multilayered. First, there is the potential for creation of a carbon nanotubes manufacturing industry in the United States that will create hundreds of high-paying domestic manufacturing jobs advance U.S. leadership and knowledge in industrial electrochemistry. Secondly, Saratoga Energy's technology has the potential to benefit the United States economy by increasing the cost-competitiveness and performance of lithium-ion batteries, paving the way to the broader adoption of electric vehicles and grid/renewable energy storage. In turn, this will help reduce the strategic importance of oil, the cost of securing global oil supplies, as well as greenhouse gas emission. While lithium-ion batteries are the focus of this body of work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are also used in a variety of other applications - advanced composite materials, nanotechnology, catalyst supports, water filtration, and other areas of commercial impact.
This SBIR Phase II project proposes to 1) electrochemically characterize carbon nanotubes as a cathode conductive additive for high-performance lithium-ion battery applications and 2) construct a small pilot-scale carbon nanotube manufacturing unit capable of producing 1 kg of product per day for retail distribution. Saratoga Energy Research Partners, LLC (Saratoga Energy), has developed a high-selectivity electrochemical process to convert carbon dioxide into carbon nanotubes. In the work conducted thus far, Saratoga Energy has established that its carbon nanotubes can be manufactured at a cost ~50X cheaper than the market price for state-of-the-art battery-grade carbon nanotubes. Battery manufacturers use carbon nanotubes to enable the reduction of conductive additive content in the cathode, thus improving specific and volumetric energy density. Carbon nanotubes also act as a reinforcing agent in the electrodes improving their mechanical properties. This is important for the battery assembly process but also for battery life performance, as the carbon nanotube network maintains a high level of cohesion of the electrodes upon repeated charge-discharge cycles. However, today, the high price of commercial carbon nanotubes limits their use, which will be addressed by our lower cost CNTs.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Saratoga Energy Corporation, located in Richmond, CA, has developed a breakthrough electrochemical process to manufacture low-cost carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from carbon dioxide. CNTs are used in a wide variety of clean-energy applications and the current market is pegged at $3.4 billion. This project focused on CNT applications for lithium-ion batteries, composites, and tires.
During the funding period, Saratoga Energy was able to refine its electrolyte recycling process to recover up to 99% spent electrolyte using carbon dioxide as the only input.
Battery half-cell tests were conducted with an anode formulation using Saratoga’s CNTs. A 13.5% improvement in capacity retention, increased coulombic efficiency, and decreased cell resistance was observed.
Thermally conductive polymer composites were constructed using Saratoga’s CNTs to provide higher thermal and electrical conductivity. Due to the control of CNT size in our process, larger tubes were able to be used, which allowed for higher loading of CNT in composites compared to smaller diameter counterparts. The higher loading of CNT in the polymer composite greatly increased the electrical and thermal conductivity at a loss of mechanical strength.
Overall, Saratoga Energy was able to scale the technology beyond the lab benchtop scale and validate a continuous process to produce a size-controllable carbon tube from a carbon dioxide feedstock that shows promising improvements in battery anode and composite applications.
Last Modified: 05/10/2023
Modified by: Kevin Yu
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