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High Performance Solid Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries--MER Corporation (Materials and Electrochemical Research), 7960 South Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ  85706; 520-574-1980, www.mercorp.com
Dr. Sohrab Hossain, Principal Investigator, mercorp@mercorp.com 
Dr. Raouf O. Loutfy, Business Official, rloutfy@mercorp.com 
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83712
Amount:  $100,000

Solid lithium-ion conductive electrolytes offer great promise for the development of low cost, long life, safe lithium-based batteries for vehicular applications.  Such solid electrolytes must have an ionic conductivity greater than 10^-3 S/cm, a lithium-ion transference number greater than 0.3, and stability up to 5 V.  Current conventional solid polymer electrolytes are well short of meeting these requirements.  This project will develop a novel solid polymer electrolyte using a nano-size ceramic oxide additive in polymer matrices that have lithium salts dispersed in them.  The new electrolyte will meet the desired characteristics for lithium-based batteries.  In Phase I, the proposed solid polymer electrolyte will be produced using a melt-cast technique and characterized using analytical and electrochemical techniques.  Prototype full cells of capacity greater than 200 mAh will be developed to assess technical feasibility and proof of concept.  The cost factors of each step will be reviewed, and a complete cost model will be developed.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee:  A low cost, high performance solid polymer electrolyte should speed the development of advanced rechargeable lithium and lithium-ion battery systems for vehicular applications.