USABC awards $1.64M to NOHMs Technologies for development of ionic liquid electrolytes for Li-ion batteries
05 October 2015
The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, recently awarded $1.64 million contract to NOHMs (Nano Organic Hybrid Materials) Technologies in Rochester, New York, for the development of electrolytes for automotive lithium-ion battery applications.
The 18-month program will focus on the development of functional, ionic liquid-based electrolyte and co-solvent combinations that exhibit high ionic conductivity and stability for application in 4.6-5.0-volt lithium-ion batteries, consistent with USABC goals.
The competitively bid contract award is co-funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and includes a 50% cost-share by NOHMs.
Founded in 2010 as a spin-off from Cornell University (earlier post), NOHMs Technologies currently has developed a battery that is based on lithium-sulfur chemistry, using its proprietary electrodes, ionic liquid based electrolyte and hybrid ceramic-polymer separator.
Since its founding, the company has been awarded 8 SBIR Phase I and 1 SBIR Phase II grants totalling almost $2 million leveraging the development of various aspects of its technologies, including a 2014 SBIR Phase I for a novel ionic liquid electrolyte formulation developed for the Lithium-Sulfur chemistry.
The company is also commercializing its electrolyte work (NanoLyte) for use by other manufacturers with a variety of cathode chemistries (e.g., LCO, NCA, LMNO, NMC and others).
NanoLyte electrolytes come in two classes: one optimized for high voltage, the other for high temperature. The voltage cut-off for the current high-voltage NanoLyte is 5.0V; the high-temperature version has a voltage cut-off of 4.4 V.
USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the US DOE, USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles. In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.
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