The NASA-CCNY Center for Advanced Batteries for Space (CABS) is a joint research & education center between The City College of New York, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Northeastern University, & regional colleges, established to create a highly collaborative research network in electrochemical energy storage & train a diverse STEM workforce through a multifaceted student internship program. The Center draws upon CCNY’s expertise in novel battery development and advanced characterization, minority student training, and management, JPL’s deep knowledge of batteries for planetary science missions & facilities to test devices under extreme conditions, & Northeastern University’s experience in complementary battery characterization methods. 

The Center’s research efforts seek to develope novel batteries composed of high-energy-density metal anodes & ionic liquid electrolytes designed to operate under the extreme temperatures & radiation encountered by spacecraft during planetary science missions.  Our objectives are to design & build novel battery prototypes aimed at meeting NASA’s mission-specific energy storage targets & expand the scope and ambition of future missions, produce new scientific understanding of metal-ionic liquid electrochemical systems and devices, including under extreme conditions, & enable JPL’s Electrochemical Technologies Group to investigate emerging battery chemistries, engineering concepts, and characterization methods that would not otherwise be explored.