The Tickle College of Engineering will play a central role in designing high conductivity electrolytes that are drop-in compatible with batteries manufactured to help meet the Department of Defense energy storage targets for next-gen platforms.
Eonix, a pioneer in next-generation battery technology, and the University of Tennessee were selected by AFWERX for a Phase II STTR grant in the amount of $1.7 million focused on ultra-high-power batteries for directed energy, counter drone awards, and e-VTOL systems.
Tom Zawodzinski, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Electrical Energy Conversion and Storage, will be leading a group at UT that was awarded $550,000 through the project. Eonix will also be spending nearly $600,000 directly at the lab the company leases and operates in the Zeanah Engineering Complex.
UT’s role in the project is to inform on the molecular processes occurring in the electrolyte in greater depth than can be achieved with the EONIX workflow, helping to validate it and identify new directions to consider.
“This project is a continuation of an ongoing collaboration with EONIX. It gives us an opportunity to connect with EONIX’s unique AI-assisted high-throughput workflow for developing new battery materials,” Zawodzinski said. “For our students, this is an opportunity to see the fast-paced, commercial side of research while also expanding some of our fundamental studies of battery electrolytes.”
As the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), AFWERX brings cutting edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX teams internationally across academia, industry, and government to develop technology, expand talent, and transition dual-use capabilities.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018, which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded.
Eonix leverages its ATLAS platform to design a non-flammable lithium-ion battery. The ATLAS platform, which is 40 times faster and 15 times lower in cost than traditional research and development methods, pairs real-time measurement of material behavior in batteries with quantum mechanics simulations to train AI models, significantly accelerating materials discovery.
“The overall aim of the project is improved lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are a core part of present-day electrification efforts, helping to lessen our impact on the climate,” Zawodzinski said. “There are multiple directions in which improvements can take place, including improved performance but also improved safety. Our work with EONIX has elements of both. Given the pervasiveness of these batteries in everyday activities, improvements can have a large cross-over from military to civilian use.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)