Hybrid Electrolytes for High-Energy Batteries Lynden A. Archer, Cornell University, DMR 1006323

1. SiO2 Hybrid Electrolytes for High-Energy BatteriesLynden A. Archer, Cornell University, DMR 1006323 Lithium is the lightest and the most electropositive metal. Rechargeable lithium batteries comprised of metallic lithium anodes offer as much as a ten-fold improvement in storage over currently used graphite anodes. Commercial deployment of such batteries requires advanced electrolytes that possess at least three features: (i) Electrochemical stability in the presence of metallic lithium; (ii) Ability to prevent/delay growth of undesirable lithium dendrites; and (iii) Low flammability and volatility under both normal and extreme battery operating conditions. We have discovered that nanoscale organic hybrid materials (NOHMs) comprised of hard inorganic silica nanoparticles and a lithium conducting polymer or ionic liquid corona assemble to form jammed, nanoporous solid electrolytes with all of the features required for high-energy lithium metal batteries.

2. Hybrid Electrolytes for High-Energy BatteriesLynden A. Archer, Cornell University, DMR1006323 NOHMs electrolytes have opened up the way for commercial deployment and large-scale manufacture of rechargeable lithium batteries with longer life and higher power than current technologies. In 2011, a new technology start-up company, NOHMs Technologies was launched in Ithaca, New York to manufacture and commercialize lithium batteries and battery materials based on Nanoscale Organic Hybrid Materials (NOHMs). The company’s technology platform addresses multiple challenges that have prevented batteries employing high-energy lithium-sulfur and high-power lithium-metal-oxide electrode materials from achieving widespread market penetration.