Doped lithium anode, battery having a doped lithium anode, and methods of use thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11217788-B2
Application number	US-201916386162-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2019
Priority date	Apr 16, 2019
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

An anode of a battery comprises lithium metal, and a dopant, in the lithium metal. The anode has a thickness of at most 50 μm, and the dopant is a metal with an electronegativity greater than lithium.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An anode, comprising:
lithium metal, and
a dopant, in the lithium metal,

wherein the anode has a thickness of at most 50 μm,
the dopant comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of aluminum, silver and mixtures thereof,
the dopant is present in an amount of 0.02 to 1.0 atomic percent, and
the anode does not contain alloy phases.

2. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the dopant is present in an amount of 0.02 to 0.2 atomic percent.

3. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the dopant is present in an amount of 0.05 to 0.15 atomic percent.

4. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the anode has a thickness of at most 30 μm.

5. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the anode demonstrates stability in dry air.

6. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the anode passes the improved charge transport test.

7. The anode of claim 1 , wherein the dopant is present in an amount of 0.05 to 0.15 atomic percent, the anode has a thickness of at most 30 μm, and the dopant comprises silver.

8. A battery comprising:
an anode,
an anode charge collecting element in contact with the anode,
a cathode,
a cathode charge collecting element in contact with the cathode, and
an electrolyte in contact with the anode and the cathode, and
a housing, enclosing the anode, anode charge colleting element, cathode, cathode charge collecting element and electrolyte,

wherein the anode comprises lithium metal doped with a dopant,
the dopant is present in an amount of 0.02 to 1.0 atomic percent,
the dopant comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of aluminum, silver and mixtures thereof, and
the anode does not include alloy phases.

9. The battery of claim 8 , further comprising a separator.

10. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the electrolyte is liquid.

11. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the anode has a thickness of at most 30 μm.

12. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the cathode comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: sulfur compounds, cobalt compounds, graphite, nickel compounds, manganese compounds, oxides, iron compounds and mixtures thereof.

13. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the electrolyte comprises
a salt, selected from the group consisting of: LiPF 6 , lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide and mixtures thereof, and
a solvent, selected from the group consisting of carbonates, ethers and mixtures thereof.

14. The battery of claim 9 , wherein the separator comprises a material selected from a group consisting of: cotton, nylon, polyesters, glass, polymer films, ceramic, rubber, asbestos and wood.

15. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the anode charge collecting element and the cathode charge collecting element comprise a material independently selected from the group consisting of: copper, aluminum, steel and combinations thereof.

16. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the anode has a thickness of at most 15 μm.

17. The battery of claim 13 , wherein the salt comprises LiPF 6 ,
the solvent comprises EC/DMC, and
the cathode comprises NMC811.

18. A method of making the anode of claim 1 , comprising:
melting lithium metal,
introducing a dopant metal into the lithium metal to form molten doped
lithium metal,
quenching the molten doped lithium metal, and
forming the doped lithium metal into an anode.

19. A method of generating electrical power with the battery of claim 8 , comprising:
connecting the anode and cathode of the battery to an external load to complete a circuit.

20. The battery of claim 8 , wherein the battery retains at least 70% capacity after 200 cycles.

21. A method of recharging the battery of claim 8 , comprising connecting the battery to an electrical power source.

22. A method of making a battery, comprising:
(i) making an anode by the method of claim 18 , and
(ii) forming a battery containing the anode in air.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the battery retains at least 70% capacity after 200 cycles.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the battery comprises:
the anode,
an anode charge collecting element in contact with the anode,
a cathode,
a cathode charge collecting element in contact with the cathode, and
an electrolyte in contact with the anode and the cathode, and
a housing, enclosing the anode, anode charge colleting element, cathode, cathode charge collecting element and electrolyte.

Assignees

• Cheng Yingwen
• Xu Tao
• Lu Ke
• Xu Haiping
• Univ Northern Illinois Board Of Trustees

Inventors

• Cheng Yingwen
• Xu Tao
• Lu Ke
• Xu Haiping

Classifications

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M4/626

  Metals · CPC title

• H01M4/405 Primary

  Alloys based on lithium · CPC title

• H01M4/1395

  of electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys · CPC title

• H01M4/134 Primary

  Electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys · CPC title