NASA SBIR 2012 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Lynntech, Inc.
2501 Earl Rudder Freeway South
College Station, TX 77845 - 6023
(979) 764-2218

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Christopher Rhodes
christopher.rhodes@lynntech.com
2501 Earl Rudder Freeway South
College Station, TX 77845 - 6023
(979) 764-2200

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
G. Renee Hisaw
renee.hisaw@lynntech.com
2501 Earl Rudder Freeway South
College Station, TX 77845 - 6023
(979) 764-2218

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Ultra High Specific Energy Batteries is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are currently under development for Extravehicular Activity Suits, Altair Lunar Landers, and Lunar Mobility Systems. However, low voltage operation and low capacity cathode of current Li-ion batteries limits both volumetric and gravimetric energy density. High capacity cathode materials with high voltage operation are needed to offer the required gains at the integrated cell level to meet NASA's goal. Lynntech proposes to develop advanced cathode that can work at high potential and provide high capacity, long cycle life, and high rate capability. During Phase I project, Lynntech will synthesize the cathode materials, optimize the compositions and structures, evaluate the cathode's properties, and determine the performance of cathodes in half cell and full cell containing high voltage electrolyte and silicon-carbon composite anode. The technology is currently estimated at TRL 3 and is expected to result in TRL 4 at the end of the Phase II project. The advanced cathode can enable ultra energy density Li-ion batteries which can provide significant mass and volume savings and operational flexibility for NASA near-term exploration missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
High capacity cathode with long cycle life and high rate capability can significantly increase the energy density of rechargeable Li-ion batteries for NASA applications including Lunar Mobility Systems, Extravehicular Activity Suits, Altair Lunar, the International Space Station, and other systems. Other NASA applications would include satellites, remote power equipment, telecommunications systems, remote sensors, detection devices. The preparation technique of cathode materials will be scalable.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
In addition to NASA applications, the advanced cathode can provide improved energy density, cycle life, and rate capability of rechargeable Li-ion batteries for both private sector commercial and military applications. Private sector commercial applications include plug-in electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, aircraft, and consumer electronic devices (cellular phones, laptop computers, and camcorders). Military applications include aircraft, soldier power, and communication systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Composites Conversion Nanomaterials Storage