ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-10926
Open Date: 23/11/2021 15:27 CEST
Closing Date: 26/01/2022 13:00 CEST

In the framework of a previous activity: G617-241Ack – De-risk assessment: Graphene Enabled Supercapacitor Cell’, graphene-based lithium supercapacitor electrodes with enhanced energy density have been developed. A proof of concept was achieved, by incorporating and testing the developed electrodes in laboratory battery cells. After successful Integration of the graphene-based electrode to supercapacitor cells, a short optimization development iteration performed in order to select the most efficient materials and parameters in terms of performance of the cell. Finally, at the end of the activity fully evaluated 100 F individual pouch cells will be delivered.This activity aims to bring graphene-based supercapacitor cell technology closer to the market. With older generation capacitors, the available capacitance was in the order of microfarads and consequently the available energy stored was extremely low. Today’s commercial supercapacitor cells offer capacitances of 100-3000 Farads and the available energy density around 5-7 Wh/kg. These values compared to simple EDLCs (0,1Wh/kg) present great enhancement but still further improvement of the energy density is necessary to meet LEO mission requirements. The targeted improvements will enable supercapacitor to be capable of standalone energy storage medium in a multitude of missions, where the payloads, or the other subsystems on board, require high power for short operating times.The first part of the activity will be dedicated to developing a graphenebased cell design optimization plan, based on the already developed cells, in order to maximize their performance. Proper cell design needs to consider intricate interconnections that link electrode performance with a multitude of sub-elements that make up the cell. In addition to, a review of supercapacitor bank requirements and specifications for space applications will be conducted.The second part will be dedicated to the optimizationof the graphene based supercapacitor cell manufacturing process necessary to further increase and stabilize their performance. In this part, a screening campaign for suitable electrolytes, separators, cell casin and electrode stacking method will run. All these elements play a dramatic role in the cell performance and need to be carefully selected and tested. In the final part, a supercapacitor bank at breadboard level will be designed, manufactured and initial tested to demonstrate the use of graphene-based cell technology. Specifically, several of the developed cells shall be integrated in a supercapacitor module in series and/or parallel to achieve a higher voltage and capacity bank.The activity foresees the following tasks: – Optimisation of the graphene-based supercapacitor cell design to maximize the cell performance and meet specific application performance criteria – Optimisation of the graphene-based supercapacitor cell production process and performance assessment – Design, manufacture and initial test of Supercapacitor Bank (Breadboard) based on the final cell design and characteristics, as well as on the application requirements.

Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. Quality
Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Mateusz Knuter
Initiating Service: TEC-EDC
IP Measure: N/A
Prog. Reference: E/0904-611 – GSTP Element 1 Dev
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: DE+EL
Technology Keywords: 23-B-I-Passive Components
Products Keywords: 2-B-1-a-Capacitors