Carbon fiber reinforced structural lithium-ion battery composite: Multifunctional power integration for CubeSats

Here we demonstrate a multifunctional battery platform where lithium-ion battery active materials are combined with carbon fiber weave materials to form energy storage composites using traditional layup methods. This design utilizes epoxy resin as a packaging medium for the battery and the carbon fibers as both a conductive current collector and structurally reinforcing layer. These composites exhibit energy density surpassing 35 Wh/kg relative to combined active and inactive composite materials, stable full-cell cycling, and mechanical properties including tensile strength of 213 MPa and Young’s modulus of ~1.8 MPa/(Δl/l). Structural battery panels developed from this approach are demonstrated as an integrated power delivery platform for a 1U CubeSat frame to augment or replace interior external battery packs. Overall, this approach shows a new path for battery integration into systems where the inactive materials for energy storage are the active composite structural materials.