SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Air‑launched weapons require high‑power, high‑energy-density power supplies to operate radar, electronic guidance, guidance fin motors, and avionics systems. Due to the high cost and poor availability of existing thermal batteries, a suitable replacement power source using innovative energy storage concepts is desired. Creare proposes a novel high density power source based on an aluminum‑peroxide battery chemistry. Aluminum‑peroxide cells achieve high-energy-density and high-discharge current capability without the safety concerns of lithium, lithium‑ion, and other high energy chemistries. Energy and power densities are maximized by leveraging the hydroxide content of peroxide for the cathodic reduction reactions. We propose to integrate a small number of aluminum cells with a high-power-density voltage converter to achieve high-energy-density, high-reliability, compact size, safe operation, and lower cost than present thermal batteries. During Phase II we will optimize the chemistry for this approach and will fabricate and demonstrate an engineering prototype. Advantages of our approach include the use of very safe, high energy density battery materials and optimal use of support electronics to maximize reliability while minimizing size and cost.
