I-Corps: Translation Potential of Safer, Longer-Life Lithium-Ion Energy Storage for Critical Infrastructure

Award ID: 2632446

This I-Corps project is based on the development of a new battery design that allows the inside of a rechargeable battery to be monitored, maintained, and actively managed. Lithium-ion batteries are generally sealed after manufacturing, which makes it difficult to detect internal problems early, respond directly to developing safety issues, or extend useful life once degradation begins. This becomes more important as batteries are deployed at larger scale across the electric grid, buildings, critical infrastructure, transportation support, data centers, telecommunications, hospitals, campuses, and other settings where reliability, safety, and cost are essential. This technology enables controlled access to internal battery materials and fluids. Potential applications include grid-scale energy storage, urban and indoor battery systems, backup power for critical infrastructure, data centers, telecom backup power, commercial buildings, hospitals, campuses, microgrids, electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging support, and other future high-value battery systems where failure risk or downtime is costly. This may reduce safety risk, improve maintenance, extend battery lifetime, lower lifecycle cost, and support broader deployment of energy storage. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of a flow-accessible architecture for intercalation lithium-ion batteries. Currently, lithium-ion cells are sealed. This technology uses flow-permeable electrodes and modified cell structures that permit controlled introduction, circulation, monitoring, withdrawal, or replacement of electrolyte or other functional fluids during the battery lifecycle. This approach treats the battery interior as an actively controllable environment rather than a fixed, inaccessible component. The technical approach is based on physics-based modeling, dimensional analysis, fabrication of flow-permeable electrodes using scalable slurry-casting methods, and early open-cell prototypes used to study wetting, fluid transport, and electrochemical performance. This may allow improved manufacturing, earlier fault detection, targeted safety intervention, thermal or mass-transport control, serviceability, lifetime extension, and controlled end-of-life deactivation. Users may benefit from improved safety, reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle economics. 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.

NSF Program Director: Ruth Shuman