June 24, 2013 – Skyhaven Systems, LLC has been awarded a contract with the Defense Logistics Agency to develop a low cost process to produce carbon monofluoride (CFx) for lithium batteries. Li/CFx primary batteries are considered to be a superior choice for military applications that require long life, light weight and very low self-discharge. The high cost of current carbon monofluoride materials, however, adds significantly to the total cost of the battery. With this contract, Skyhaven Systems, LLC will develop a method to produce CFx materials with over a 50% cost saving. The process is based on a novel rapid diffusion method that will reduce fabrication time, increase production rate, and ultimately provide a significant cost savings to the military. For this effort, Skyhaven will build a prototype reactor and produce 100 grams of CFx material demonstrating feasibility of the technology. Comparable electrochemical performance to state-of-the-art CFx materials in lithium cells will also be demonstrated. Follow-up efforts will scale up the CFx production to multi-kilogram level, demonstrate a minimum cost savings of 50%, and fabricate D-cell batteries with the generated CFx powder in collaboration with a battery manufacturing partner.

The market for Li/CFx batteries is broad. For the military market, this battery is used in mobile communication devices, robotics, and satellites. Commercial applications include oil/gas platforms and medical applications including use in pacemakers, drug pumps, and neurostimulators. Skyhaven’s low cost, scalable CFx synthesis process will benefit these existing technologies but will also allow for new applications to develop that were previously not considered due to cost.