Bio Supercapacitors RFI_C.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED

Request for Information (RFI) on Biomimetic and Bioenabled Supercapacitors

Agency: Office of the Director of National Intelligence Office: Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity

RFI Number: IARPA-RFI-24-04

Synopsis:

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) seeks information regarding innovations in Biomimetic and Bioinspired Supercapacitors (BBS) that could achieve a substantial leap in power storage. To this end, IARPA is interested in understanding the current research landscape of BSS approaches and those technical hurdles that need to be addressed in order to improve and employ these technologies. This RFI is issued for planning purposes only and does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or suggest the procurement of any materials, data sets, etc.

Background:

Current supercapacitor technology bridges the gap between capacitors and rechargeable batteries, storing much more energy per unit volume than traditional electrolytic capacitors and are able to tolerate more cycles than rechargeable batteries [1,2,3]. Supercapacitors have a lower energy density than rechargeable batteries, meaning they can’t store as much energy per unit volume, but they have a higher energy density than traditional capacitors. In terms of power (the speed at which energy can be absorbed or delivered), supercapacitors can have a substantial higher power density than rechargeable batteries. As a consequence, supercapacitors showcase charge/discharge times smaller than batteries, but larger than capacitors. Therefore, in general, batteries are better geared for high energy demand, capacitors are more appropriate for high power demand, while supercapacitors bridge these two regimes.

The two most crucial components of a supercapacitor are its electrodes and electrolytes [4,5,6]. As with traditional capacitors, the capacitance of a supercapacitor is proportional to the area of the electrodes. And therefore, high performance electrodes in supercapacitors are commonly made of porous materials with very high specific surface areas. In general, smaller pores produce large specific surface areas that lead to higher capacitance and specific energy, but also increase equivalent series resistance (ESR) and decrease specific power. Therefore, applications characterized by high peak currents require larger pores and low internal losses. On the other hand, high specific energy applications require small pores. Because of their high porosity and large specific surface area Carbon-based materials are the most commonly used in supercapacitor’s electrodes. Specific examples include activated carbon, carbon aerogel, graphite, graphene, and carbon nanotubes.

Electrically conductive electrolytes permeate the porous electrodes in a supercapacitor and enable the electric interaction between the two electrodes. As such, the performance of a supercapacitor given by its operating voltage, temperature range, ESR, and capacitance are strongly determined by the physical properties of the electrolytes. In addition, the electrolytes need to have a low viscosity so they can properly permeate the porous electrodes. At the same time, electrolytes need to be chemically inert to ensure a long operational lifetime of the supercapacitor.

Research efforts in recent years have tried to enhance supercapacitor performance by improving on the materials used for electrodes and electrolytes. One of the goals of these efforts has been to extend the power density and/or energy density regimes of supercapacitors while increasing its charge/discharge time (either to make them more battery-like or capacitor-like energy storage systems). Several of these approaches have leveraged novel biomimicry and biological components in the design of supercapacitors.

Motivation for the development of bioenabled and bioinspired supercapacitors include the ability to have flexible energy storage capabilities for wearable electronics, biocompatibility of implanted electronics, environmentally friendly alternatives that reduce harmful electronic waste by using biobased materials and components. Supercapacitors that are enabled by biology fall into two major classes, materials that are carbonized to form electrodes or biological components added into the supercapacitor energy storage device. The general theme, however, appears to be the use of biology to develop highly structured electrodes with high specific surface areas and effective electrolytes.

Some examples of these approaches include the development of novel electrode and electrolyte materials using: bio-templates such as the tobacco mosaic virus [7], low-cost alkali lignin as an active carbon-based material [8], biopolymers [9], proteins [10], DNA hydrogels [11], DNA scaffolds [12], nanobioelectronics [13], graphitized hemicellulose porous carbon spheres [14], bacterial cellulose [15], biomass [16], and multifunctional composites with hydrogel polymers [17].

These preliminary results suggest that it may be feasible to harness biology to promote a substantial leap in supercapacitor and other energy storage technologies.

Scope:

For IARPA to evaluate if there have been sufficient advancements to support a research effort in Biomimetic and Bioenabled Supercapacitors (BBS), it is necessary to understand the current state of the art research based on the following questions:

1. What biological approaches are best suited to improve supercapacitor technology towards higher energy and/or power densities?

2. In particular, is it possible that BBS could accept, store, and/or deliver at least five KW of power over relatively long periods of time (i.e., between 1 and 10 hrs.)? If so, what are the limits to its physical size and weight?

3. Could BBS work in a variety of thermal conditions ranging from -40 to 70 C?

4. What is the potential operational lifetime estimate of BBS? Could it be pushed to over one million charge/discharge cycles? If so, what technical advancements would be needed?

5. What is the upper limit of self-discharge time for BBS (i.e., would it take more than a week to self-discharge due to leakage current)?

6. Could BBS have high round trip efficiency (i.e., the energy lost during the storage process being smaller than 5%)?

7. What are the estimates for lifetime functionality of BBS? Could it be pushed to exceed five to ten years?

8. In general, what are the technical hurdles that need to be addressed to realize a substantial gap in energy storage using BBS?

Preparation Instructions to Respondents:

IARPA requests that respondents submit responses to the above questions for use by the Government in formulating a potential program. IARPA requests that submittals address one or more of the above questions and include a brief technical description of potential approach(es) or concept, outline critical technical issues/obstacles, describe how the approach may address those issues/obstacles and comment on the expected performance and robustness of the proposed approach. If appropriate, respondents may also choose to provide a non-proprietary rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate regarding what such approaches might require in terms of funding and other resources for one or more years to execute the respondent’s vision for structural and functional characterization of BMMs and/or synthesis pipelines. This announcement contains all of the information required to submit a response. No additional forms, kits, or other materials are needed.

IARPA welcomes responses from all capable and qualified sources including academia, industry, government, national laboratories, and other federally funded research entities from within and outside of the U.S. This includes perspectives and associated capabilities for effectively evaluating potential research approaches.

In response to submissions to this RFI, IARPA may organize an invitation-only workshop for the purpose of reviewing and discussing relevant current and future research. Should a workshop occur, participants may be asked to make formal presentations based on their RFI submissions or associated research. Written submissions and information discussed at a workshop may assist in the formulation of future U.S. Government research.

Reponses must meet the following formatting requirements:

1. A one-page cover sheet that identifies the title, organization(s), respondent's technical and administrative points of contact - including names, addresses, phone and fax numbers, and email addresses of all co-authors, and clearly indicating its association with IARPA-RFI- 24-04;

2. A substantive, focused, one-half page executive summary;

3. A response to one, some, or all of the questions posed above with a maximum of two pages;

4. A description (limited to 5 pages) of the technical challenges associated with the above topic and potential research approaches to address the interests described;

a. A single quad-chart depicting the described approach, key ideas, and potential impact - may include supportive figures or illustrations. This quad chart can be submitted as a single slide Power Point or single page PDF. This does not count against the 5-page limit.

5. A list of references (any significant claims or reports of success must be accompanied by citations – citations do not count against the 5-page limit; and

6. All documents are limited to 12-point Times New Roman font, appropriate for single-sided, single-spaced 8.5 by 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins.

Submission Instructions to Respondents:

Responses to this RFI are due no later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, April 15, 2024. All submissions must be electronically submitted to dni-iarpa-rfi-24-04@iarpa.gov as a PDF document. Inquiries to this RFI must be submitted to dni-iarpa-rfi-24-04@iarpa.gov. Do not send questions with proprietary content. No telephone inquiries will be accepted.

Disclaimers and Important Notes:

This is an RFI issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or authority to enter into negotiations for a contract. Respondents are advised that IARPA is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information or to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. IARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. It is the respondent's responsibility to ensure that the submitted material has been approved for public release by the information owner. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited, nor is the Government obligated to issue a solicitation based on responses received.

No proprietary and no classified concepts or information shall be included in the submittal.

However, should a respondent wish to submit classified concepts or information, prior coordination must be made with the IARPA Chief of Security. Email the Primary Point of Contact with a request for coordination with the IARPA Chief of Security. Input on technical aspects of the responses may be solicited by IARPA from non-Government consultants/experts who are bound by appropriate nondisclosure requirements.

Contracting Office Address:

Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity Washington, District of Columbia 20511 United States

Primary Point of Contact:

Dawson Cagle Program Manager Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity

References [1] A. Paravannoor, Supercapacitors and Their Applications, CRC Press, 2023.

[2] A. Yu, Electrochemical Supercapacitors for Energy Storage and Delivery, CRC Press, 2013.

[3] B.E. Conway, Electrochemical Supercapacitors: Scientific Fundamentals and Technological Applications, Springer, 1999;

[4] F. Beguin, Supercapacitors: Materials, Systems, and Applications, Wiley-VCH, 2013.

[5] L.B. Kong, Nanomaterials for Supercapacitors, CRC Press, 2017; K. Kar, Handbook of Nanocomposite Supercapacitor Nanomaterials, Vol. I-IV, Springer 2020;

[6] G. Shen, Flexible Supercapacitors: Materials and Applications, Wiley, 2022.

[7] Royston, E., Ghosh, A., Kofinas, P., Harris, M. T., & Culver, J. N. (2008). “Self-Assembly of Virus-Structured High Surface Area Nanomaterials and Their Application as Battery Electrodes”.

Langmuir, 24(3), 906-912.

[8] Jha, S., Mehta, S., Chen, Y., Likhari, R., Stewart, W., Parkinson, D., & Liang, H. (2020).

“Design and synthesis of high performance flexible and green supercapacitors made of manganese-dioxide-decorated alkali lignin”. Energy Storage, 2(5), e184.

[9] Dalwadi, S., Goel, A., Kapetanakis, C., Salas-de la Cruz, D., & Hu, X. (2023). “The Integration of Biopolymer-Based Materials for Energy Storage Applications: A Review”. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(4).

[10] Wang, T., He, D., Yao, H., Guo, X., Sun, B., & Wang, G. (2022). “Development of Proteins for High-Performance Energy Storage Devices: Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies”.

Advanced Energy Materials, 12(44).

[11] S.B. Mitta, et.al., (2022) “Flexible Supercapacitor with a Pure DNA Gel Electrolyte”, Adv.

Mater. Interfaces, 9, 2200133; J. Hur, et.al., (2013), “DNA hydrogel-based supercapacitors operating in physiological fluids”, Scientific Reports, 3:1282.

[12] E.P. Komarala, et.al. (2022), “DNA Scaffolds with Manganese Oxide/Oxyhydroxide Nanoparticles for Highly Stable Supercapacitance Electrodes”, ACS Appl. Nano Mater., 5, 7, 8902-8912; J. Yesuraj and K. Kin (2023), “Deoxyribonucleic acid scaffold assisted structural engineering to tune the intrinsic to extrinsic capacitive behavior in spinel structured MnCo2O4.5 for high-performance asymmetric supercapacitor application”, Journal of Energy Storage, 58, 106315.

[13] J. Lv, L. Yin, X. Chen, I. Jeerapan, C. A. Silva, Y. Li, Z. Lin, L. Wang, A. Tribanov, S. Xu, S. Cosnier, J. Wang. (2021). “Wearable Biosupercapacitor: Harvesting and Storing Energy from Sweat”. Advanced Functional Materials, 31(38).

[14] Zhang, Z., Li, F., Chen, J., Yang, G., Ji, X., Tian, Z., Wang, B., Zhang, L., & Lucia, L. (2022).

“High performance bio-supercapacitor electrodes composed of graphitized hemicellulose porous carbon spheres”. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 10(September), 1-11.

[15] Ma, L., Bi, Z., Xue, Y., Zhang, W., Huang, Q., Zhang, L., & Huang, Y. (2020). “Bacterial cellulose: an encouraging eco-friendly nano-candidate for energy storage and energy conversion”.

J. Mater. Chem. A, 8(12), 5812-5842.

[16] S.K. Tiwari, Biomass-Based Functional Carbon Nanostructures for Supercapacitors, Springer, XXX; M.A. Aziz, Biomass-Based Supercapacitors: Design, Fabrication and Sustainability, Wiley XXX.

[17] N. Anjun, N. Joyal, J. Iroegbu and C. Chen (2021), “Humidity-modulated properties of hydrogel polymer electrolytes for flexible supercapacitors”, Journal of Power Sources 499, 229962