Project Grant DESC0023798

This $255,976 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of a novel lithium-ion battery cathode chemistry by Nanodian, Inc. to enable lower cost and safer energy storage solutions. Specifically, the company will advance a nanostructured lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4 or ND-LMO) cathode material that is expected to provide approximately 30% lower cost per kilowatt-hour compared to incumbent nickel manganese cobalt oxide chemistries. This new material aims to improve...

This $455,286 federal Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Materials Research supports research at the University of New Mexico (UNM) to explore over-stoichiometric disordered rock salts as potential lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cathode materials. The key objectives are to: 1) develop a new series of over-stoichiometric Li(Na)-Ti-Mn(Fe)-O-F-based disordered rock salts, 2) characterize their crystallographic, electronic, and vibrational properties,...

This $255,700 National Science Foundation Project Grant supports the development of sodium-based solid-state batteries for stationary energy storage by Unigrid LLC. The company will advance a novel halide-based sodium solid-state electrolyte material with the goal of improving its ionic conductivity by one to two orders of magnitude. Additionally, the company will explore scalable room-temperature synthesis routes. This research aims to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy generation by...

This $275,000 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of nickel- and cobalt-free cathodes for high-energy and low-cost lithium-ion batteries by Fermi Energy, Inc. from March 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024. The grant is funded through NSF's Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), which seeks to advance solutions to national challenges through breakthrough technologies. Specifically, Fermi Energy will design, manufacture, and characterize new...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemistry aims to develop a new class of rechargeable battery that pairs sodium metal with nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases. The $300,000 award made under the NSF's Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program supports research at The Ohio State University to establish the fundamental (electro)chemistry of these Na-NOx batteries, improve their stability, and design flow cell prototypes. Key objectives include...

Am Batteries Inc. received a $256,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation Division of Industrial Innovation under the Engineering federal grant program (CFDA 47.041) to develop a solvent-free manufacturing process for lithium-ion battery electrodes. The goal of the one-year project beginning February 1, 2022 is to design, manufacture, and operate a continuous feed dry spraying system to optimize fabrication of thicker battery electrodes without solvents. This novel...

This $256,000 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of binderless electrode manufacturing using nano-layered coatings deposited through an ultrasonic nozzle-free spray coating technique. Funded under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), the awardee Nanoresearch Inc. will investigate process-structure-property relationships to validate this new coating method for scaling production of binderless electrodes. Specifically, the company will design surfactant removal...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) Project Grant award of $550,000 provides funding to The Washington University in St. Louis to develop high-performance, long-life electrodes for sustainable sodium-based batteries. The key objectives are to scale up cathode synthesis, demonstrate superior performance in large-format cells, and advance the fundamental understanding of the heat and mass transfer dynamics, interparticle interactions, and...

This $282,020 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems will fund research at Northern Illinois University from October 2022 to September 2025. The research aims to advance understanding of reversible sodium hydrosulfide formation in hybrid electrolytes to enable high energy density sodium-sulfur battery technology. Specifically, the university will conduct fundamental studies using X-ray scattering...

This Project Grant award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), under the CFDA program 81.135 "Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy", provides $500,000.00 to Mana Battery, Inc. to develop an industry-transforming anode-free sodium battery cell using the company's proprietary sodium borate electrolyte (SBE) platform. The proposed battery cells comprise safe, low-cost, fluorine-free electrolytes and nickel-free cathodes, with the goal of outperforming lithium...