“Batteries are the crux of many of the most important emerging technologies in both the civilian world and, important to our profession, on the battlefield,” said United States Military Academy Cadet Michael Williams. “More energy dense batteries allow, for instance, greater range on electric vehicles, longer battery lives for radios, and longer flight times for drones. Our work helps make manufacturing these batteries easier.”
Cadets Michael Williams, Avery Patel, and Nancy Astable have been working on a long-term project with their faculty mentors Dr. Enoch Nagelli, Dr. Simuck Yuk, and Army Col. John Burpo to develop new ways to maximize energy storage and generation for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Armaments Center. In collaboration with Cornell University, the team at USMA’s Department of Chemistry and Life Sciences is pursuing innovative approaches to increasing the quality and use of batteries and fuel cells.
The value of conducting scientific research to solve real-world problems is clear to the cadets.
“Research has been integral to my development as a cadet, chemical engineer, and future officer,” said Williams. “It has allowed me to pursue my academic passions and contribute to a team working towards something meaningful to the world and the warfighter. I grew as a leader and a communicator, leading a team of cadets and briefing our research to a wide variety of audiences.”
New technology to store and convert energy is in high demand and has many uses in consumer electronics, renewable energy, electric vehicles, munitions and more. In particular, precision-guided munitions need power for features like geo-tracking or processors. The team’s proposal consists of a carbon-metal mixture that could be used to produce superior batteries and fuel cells, along with a sprayable nanomaterial technology that can be applied to munition power sources to achieve more consistent and efficient function.
The group’s research is a continuation of a project started by cadets and faculty years prior. So far, the group has been able to demonstrate proof of concept. The team is still working to make their product more efficient and less costly, aiming to reduce the complexity and time for production. The cadets are optimistic about the future of the project, and hope that other cadets in the Department of Chemistry and Life Science will pick up where they left off.
“At scale, this promises to make the manufacturing of lithium batteries with greater energy density more economical and practical.” Williams said.
This project is part of West Point's 25th annual Projects Day Research Symposium that showcases more than 450 cadet-led research projects. Learn more about the Department of Chemistry and Life Sciences at https://bit.ly/WP_CLS and check out more project features at https://www.westpoint.edu/werx.
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