Protection of battery electrodes against side reactions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11158848-B2
Application number	US-201916679199-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2019
Priority date	Oct 5, 2015
Publication date	Oct 26, 2021
Grant date	Oct 26, 2021

Abstract

A battery electrode composition is provided that comprises composite particles. Each of the composite particles in the composition (which may represent all or a portion of a larger composition) may comprise a porous electrode particle and a filler material. The porous electrode particle may comprise active material provided to store and release ions during battery operation. The filler material may occupy at least a portion of the pores of the electrode particle. The filler material may comprise a solid and is not substantially conductive with respect to electron transport.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A battery electrode composition for a battery, comprising:
a composite particle being a composite of a porous electrode particle that comprises active material capable of storing and releasing ions during battery operation, and a filler material occupying at least a portion of one or more pores of the porous electrode particle,
wherein the filler material comprises a solid and is not substantially conductive with respect to electron transport, and
wherein the filler material in the battery electrode composition is configured so as to substantially prevent direct contact between the active material and at least one component of an electrolyte capable of being used in the battery once the battery electrode composition is made part of an electrode of the battery.

2. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the porous electrode particle exhibits a porosity in the range from about 2 vol. % to about 70 vol. %.

3. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the porous electrode particle exhibits a specific surface area in the range from about 5 m2/g to about 3000 m 2 /g.

4. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pores of the porous electrode particle exhibits pore dimensions in the range from about 0.4 nm to about 40 nm.

5. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the porous electrode particle comprises conductive carbon.

6. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the filler material is infiltrated into the porous electrode particle prior to the battery electrode composition being assembled into the electrode.

7. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the filler material is infiltrated into the porous electrode particle after being assembled into the electrode.

8. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the battery for which the battery electrode composition is configured is a Li-ion or a Na-ion battery.

9. The battery electrode composition of claim 8 ,
wherein the electrode for which the battery electrode composition is configured is an anode, and the active material comprises silicon (Si) or tin (Sn), or
wherein the electrode for which the battery electrode composition is configured is a cathode, and the active material comprises at least one of sulfur (S), lithium sulfide (Li 2 S), sodium sulfide (Na 2 S), iron fluoride (FeF3), copper fluoride (CuF2), lithium fluoride (LiF), or sodium fluoride (NaF).

10. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the filler material comprises at least one of: one or more alkanes, one or more cycloalkanes, one or more alkane-substituted compounds, one or more aromatic hydrocarbons, one or more oils, one or more hydrogenated oils, one or more epoxidized oils, one or more oligomers, one or more monomers that may be polymerized, one or more salts or any combination thereof.

11. The battery electrode composition of claim 10 , wherein the filler material is at least partially fluorinated or sulfonated.

12. The battery electrode composition of claim 10 , wherein the filler material comprises at least one monomer or at least one reactive oligomer selected from the following group: one or more styrene based monomers with admixture of bifunctional vinyl monomers, one or more vinylcarbonate based monomers with admixture of bifunctional vinyl monomers, one or more divinylbenzene, one or more esters, one or more ethers, one or more silicone precursors, one or more poly(ethylene oxide) precursors, one or more poly(propylene oxide) precursors, one or more precursors for vinyl polymers, alicyclic compounds, and one or more precursors for polymers based on one or more derivatives of one or more acrylic or methacrylic acids.

13. The battery electrode composition of claim 10 , wherein the filler material is at least partially polymerized or cross-linked prior to the battery electrode composition being assembled into the electrode.

14. The battery electrode composition of claim 10 , wherein the filler material comprises at a Li salt or a Na salt.

15. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the filler material comprises two or more distinct material compositions.

16. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the filler material is electron insulating, is ionically conductive, is capable of establishing a robust interface with a battery electrolyte and thus is capable of serving as a synthetic solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer.

17. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pores comprise at least one close pores.

18. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the composite particle exhibits a near-spherical shape.

19. The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein the active material is nanostructured or nano-sized.

20. A Li-ion battery, comprising:
anode and cathode electrodes;
an electrolyte ionically coupling the anode and the cathode; and
a separator electrically separating the anode and the cathode,
wherein the anode or the cathode electrode comprise the battery electrode composition of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Sila Nanotechnologies Inc

Inventors

• Yushin Gleb
• Zdyrko Bogdan
• Berdichevsky Eugene
• Jacobs Alexander
• Nese Alper
• Kajdos Adam
• Yen Justin
• Doane Justin

Classifications

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title

• H01M10/054

  Accumulators with insertion or intercalation of metals other than lithium, e.g. with magnesium or aluminium · CPC title

• H01M4/62

  Selection of inactive substances as ingredients for active masses, e.g. binders, fillers · CPC title

• H01M4/587

  for inserting or intercalating light metals · CPC title

• H01M4/582

  Halogenides · CPC title