TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: Portable Compact Thermionic Power Cell (LAR-TOPS-294)

NASA’s Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses.

THE TECHNOLOGY: Ideal power sources for portable equipment ideally should be small, compact, lightweight, and provide continuous power with high power density. Batteries meet all but the continuous power requirement. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) meet the continuous power condition but none of the others. However, a compact, thermionic-based cell that converts heat to electricity can meet all the above requirements.

A tightly spaced array of nanometer-scale emitter points efficiently converts the heat from Plutonium-238 (238 Pu) into usable electricity. The thermionic cell uses metals with low work-function, not semiconductors, and escapes many of the RTG limitations such as lower carrier concentration and mobility, and the difficult requirement of high electrical and low thermal conductivity. It delivers an estimated 10-20% vs. 7% efficiency for an equivalent-sized, 238Pu-based RTG.

Such a power cell would be ideal for remote, hazardous or otherwise isolated applications such as remote sensors/transmitters in severe environments.

To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA’s Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/LAR-TOPS-294 If you have any questions, please e-mail NASA’s Technology Transfer Program at Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this beta.SAM.gov notice and your preferred contact information.

For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ These responses are provided to members of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.