Lithium battery cell including cathode having metal fluoride core-shell particle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11552328-B2
Application number	US-202016748056-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 21, 2020
Priority date	Jan 18, 2019
Publication date	Jan 10, 2023
Grant date	Jan 10, 2023

Abstract

An embodiment is directed to a Li metal or Li-ion battery, including a conversion-type metal fluoride comprising cathode capable of storing and releasing Li ions during battery operation, a conversion-type type or Li metal-type anode capable of storing and releasing Li ions during battery operation, a separator membrane ionically coupling and electronically insulating the cathode and the anode, and a solid electrolyte with a Li transference number in the range from around 0.7 to around 1.0 impregnating at least the cathode, wherein the cathode comprises composite a core-shell particle and has an areal capacity loading that ranges from around 2 mAh/cm2 to around 12 mAh/cm2.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A Li metal or Li-ion battery cell, comprising:
a conversion-type cathode capable of storing and releasing Li ions during battery cell operation;
a conversion-type or Li metal-type anode capable of storing and releasing the Li ions during the battery cell operation;
a separator membrane ionically coupling and electronically insulating the cathode and the anode; and
a solid electrolyte with a Li transference number in the range from around 0.7 to around 1.0 impregnating at least the cathode,
wherein:
the cathode comprises a composite core-shell particle and has an areal capacity loading that ranges from around 2 mAh/cm 2 to around 12 mAh/cm 2 ;
a core of the composite core-shell particle comprises (i) LiF, (ii) metal nanoparticles comprising one, two, or more metals selected from Cu, Fe, Ni, Co and Bi or their alloys and (iii) a matrix material composition;
the solid electrolyte comprises a solid polymer electrolyte; and
the battery cell is free of liquid organic solvents in at least the cathode.

2. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the solid electrolyte impregnates into both the anode and the cathode.

3. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein a volume fraction of the solid electrolyte in the cathode ranges from around 8 vol. % to around 35 vol. %.

4. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the solid electrolyte exhibits a melting point or a glass transition temperature below around 400° C.

5. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 4 , wherein the solid electrolyte exhibits Li ion conductivity in excess of 10 −4 S/cm either at room temperature or at battery cell operating temperatures.

6. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 5 , wherein a ratio of a mobility of Cu 2+ and Fe 2+ to a mobility of Li + in the solid electrolyte ranges from around 10 −20 to around 0.05 at the battery cell operation temperatures.

7. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the solid polymer electrolyte exhibits ultimate tensile strength in the range from around 0.05 MPa to around 500.0 MPa.

8. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the solid polymer electrolyte exhibits a glass transition temperature from around minus (−) 90° C. to around 0° C.

9. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the solid polymer electrolyte comprises one, two or more copolymers.

10. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 ,
wherein the solid polymer electrolyte exhibits a degree of crystallinity in the range from around 0.0 vol. % to around 30.0 vol. % at room temperature.

11. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 ,
wherein the solid polymer electrolyte comprises nitrogen (N) as a part of a polymer backbone.

12. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 ,
wherein the solid polymer electrolyte comprises sulfur (S) as a part of a polymer backbone.

13. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 ,
wherein the solid polymer electrolyte comprises one or more Li salts,
wherein at least one Li salt comprises an anion immobilized by covalent attachment to a polymer backbone.

14. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the solid electrolyte is free of liquid organic solvents throughout the battery cell.

15. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein a volumetric capacity of both the cathode and the anode exceeds around 700 mAh/cc.

16. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 ,
wherein the matrix material composition is configured to confine the LiF and the metal nanoparticles during the battery cell operation and to reduce volume changes in the composite core-shell particle during the battery cell operation.

17. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 16 ,
wherein at least one core component of the core conducts both Li+ cations and F− anions,
wherein the at least one core component exhibits F− conductivity in the range from around 0.1% to around 500% of Li+ conductivity.

18. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the anode comprises silicon (Si) or carbon (C) or both.

19. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein, in a discharged state, the anode comprises pores of sufficient pore volume to accommodate volume expansion in response to Li insertion.

20. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 ,
wherein the separator membrane comprises ceramic material,
wherein a weight fraction of the ceramic material exceeds 1 wt. % relative to a total weight of the separator membrane.

21. The Li metal or Li-ion battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the separator membrane comprises fibers or nanofibers.

Assignees

• Sila Nanotechnologies Inc

Inventors

• Yushin Gleb
• Gerber Laura
• Clark Matthew

Classifications

• H01M50/44

  Fibrous material · CPC title

• H01M2300/0082

  Organic polymers · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M4/133

  Electrodes based on carbonaceous material, e.g. graphite-intercalation compounds or CFx · CPC title

• H01M10/0525 Primary

  Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries · CPC title