Battery technology needs continue to grow for a broad array of medical devices. From chemistry innovation for high energy density, long-life, fast charge and stability; to materials, designs and process for miniaturization; novel safety technologies; to robust battery management system advanced analytics, modeling and remote monitoring. This talk will present a broad survey of these needs and the process of how new technology is translated into products to serve patient needs. 

The presentation will provide insights into requirements, test and usage aspects that relate to rechargeable and disposable batteries for implantable hearing devices such as cochlear and acoustic implants.

Medical device applications have various unique needs for batteries. It brings challenges to the battery design, medical device and application design, supply chain design and management, and lifecycle management. This speech will provide the product managers, business managers, medical solution architects, battery design engineers, and procurement leaders with an overview of the battery applications in medical devices. It will discuss the typical clinical application workflow, the requirement for batteries and their design, supply chain management, data and lifecycle management, and quality assurance. With a deep understanding of the applications in and out of the hospitals and/or at home, the product managers and designers can design the batteries to better meet the requirements for the medical device applications, to benefit the customers and deliver to the business objectives.

Lithium-ion batteries experience dimensional changes during cycling due to several mechanisms.   Traditional anode and cathode active materials such as lithium cobalt oxide and graphite expand and contract during lithiation and delithiation.   Addition of silicon to the anode can results in even greater volumetric changes.   Batteries containing lithium metal anodes or anode free designs based on lithium metal must also accommodate significant expansion and contraction as the lithium plates and strips.   In this presentation, we will demonstrate the use of high throughput in situ measurements of these dimensional changes for a variety of materials.   Data can be used to better design electrodes to minimize volumetric changes with cycling.

This talk features a hybrid solid-state electrolyte comprising a layered stack of a flexible single-particle-thick-membrane (SPTM) and ion-conducting polymeric interposers. The SPTM, made of a monolayer of ion-conducting ceramic particles laterally interconnected by a soft insulating polymer, renders controlled lithium-ion transfer through hard ceramic particles enabling efficient dendrite suppression. The thin, pressure-deformable ion-conducting polymer interposer improves interfacial contact with electrodes and accommodates volume change during battery operation.

The demand for lithium-ion battery continues to grow globally. Its key performance characteristics have enabled it to make in-roads into every application, thus resulting in increased market opportunities. From powering cell phones and laptops to now powering our cars, houses and grids, lithium-ion batteries have come a long way. Over the past decade the surge in lithium-ion battery production and demand has resulted in driving down the price.

We report the in situ healing of Li and K dendrites. The healing is triggered by current controlled, self-heating at the electrolyte/dendrite interface, which causes migration of surface atoms away from the dendrite tips, thereby smoothening the dendritic surface. We discover that this process is strikingly more efficient for K as compared to Li metal due to the far greater mobility of surface atoms in K relative to Li metal.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are a high energy density energy storage technology with low size and weight. However, LIBs’ vulnerabilities to physical damage can render them inoperational and risks catastrophic failure. This design for electrodes and current collectors electrically isolates and shuts down a damaged area upon impact while the remaining part can still function. The solution simplifies cell design, increases energy density, reduces cost and guards against thermal runaway.

A porous Si-C anode material has been developed by a scalable process. It features sealed porosity and intimate protection of Si by C which enable low swell and long cycle life. Good cycling stability is demonstrated in full cells with high loading (>3.6 mAh/cm2) and high Si content (>40 wt%). The process utilizes a wet chemistry approach and requires mild conditions, making the material highly scalable.

The quest for cheaper, safer, higher-density, and more resource-abundant energy storage has driven significant battery innovations. In the context of materials development for next-generation batteries, organic battery electrode materials have emerged as an exciting option
complementary to inorganic materials. In this presentation, I will emphasize the unique advantages of organic battery materials in emerging beyond Li-ion battery technologies such as solid-state batteries, multivalent metal batteries, and aqueous batteries.