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SwRI Selected to Receive $1.2 Million Contract from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for Battery Research

Institute Scientist Dr. Kwai Chan, Staff Scientist Dr. Michael Miller and Research Engineer Dr. Wuwei Liang from SwRI's Materials Engineering Department are the team for the project, "Synthesis and Characterization of Silicon Clathrates for Anode Applications in Lithium-Ion Batteries." The project is scheduled to begin in January 2011 and is expected to be completed by December 2014.

"The objective of this project is to investigate how silicon clathrates can be used to improve the performance of lithium batteries," said Chan, who will serve as project manager for the four-year effort. "The primary application for the technology is electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric automobiles." SwRI has been addressing advanced battery technologies through its internally funded research program Chan said.

Currently, most lithium-ion batteries have a 10-year life expectancy and a range of 10 miles between charges. A goal of the DOE and stakeholders is to quadruple the range and double the energy density of these batteries within the next four years while extending the battery life to greater than 10 years.

Silicon clathrate is a form of silicon with a cage structure that researchers believe can be used to store lithium at the battery anode. "The clathrate's soccer-ball-like structure would trap the lithium ions in a compact space," Miller added, "thereby providing a higher energy density and longer battery life."

Project tasks include investigating new ways to make clathrates, fundamental modeling of the anode material to better understand how it behaves, and developing and evaluating a prototype battery cell.

"If successful, this program could be extended to look at new materials for the cathode, thereby further increasing battery performance," Chan said.

For more information about advanced battery and materials research at SwRI, visit http://mateng.swri.org/, or contact Chan at (210) 522-2053 or kwai.chan@swri.org.

About SwRI:

SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organization based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 3,200 employees and an annual research volume of more than $564 million. Southwest Research Institute and SwRI are registered marks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For more information about Southwest Research Institute, please visit newsroom.swri.org or www.swri.org.

SwRI
Deborah S. Deffenbaugh, 210-522-2046
dsdeffenbaugh@swri.org