Solvent-free processing of lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide coated-cathodes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11821091-B2
Application number	US-202016938037-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2020
Priority date	Jul 24, 2020
Publication date	Nov 21, 2023
Grant date	Nov 21, 2023

Abstract

A dry process for coating Ni-rich cathode powder with cubic LLZO powder prepared by flame spray pyrolysis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
dry mixing, by ball-milling, a nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material with a doped LLZO powder until the nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material has a particle size of at least 6 microns and equal to or less than 15 microns, wherein the LLZO consisting of primary particles between 200 nanometers to 1 micrometer in size, forming a LLZO-cathode material mixture of 90-99.9 wt % nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material and 0.1 to 10 wt % doped LLZO powder; and
calcining the dry LLZO-cathode material mixture between 300° C. and 700° C. for 1-10 hours under a flowing oxygen atmosphere.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the doped LLZO powder comprises aluminum, tantalum, yttrium, iron, tellurium, tungsten, niobium, barium, cerium, titanium, boron, antimony, or gallium as a dopant which replaces 3-50 mol % of Li or Zr in Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 .

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material comprises LiNi x Co y Mn z O 2 material, where x+y+z=1, further wherein x≥0.6.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein mixing is at 50-300 RPM for 5-90 minutes.

5. An electrochemical cell comprising the LLZO coated lithium nickel oxide of claim 1 as the cathode material.

6. A method, comprising:
forming a doped cubic LLZO powder by flame spray pyrolysis;
dry ball-milling a nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material until the nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material has a particle size of at least 6 microns and equal to or less than 15 microns with the doped LLZO powder comprising Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 with 3-50 mol % of one or both of Li and Zr replaced with an aluminum dopant, wherein the LLZO consisting of primary particles between 200 nanometers to 1 micrometer in size;
forming a dry LLZO-cathode material mixture of 90-99.9 wt % nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material and 0.1 to 10 wt % doped LLZO powder; and
calcining the dry LLZO-cathode material mixture between 300° C. and 700° C. for 1-10 hours under a flowing oxygen atmosphere.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the nickel rich lithium metal oxide cathode material comprises LiNi x Co y Mn z O 2 material, further wherein x+y+z=1.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein x≥0.6.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein mixing is by a ball milling process at 50-300 RPM for 5-90 minutes.

10. The method of claim 2 , wherein the dopant is aluminum.

Assignees

• Uchicago Argonne Llc

Inventors

• Durham Jessica L
• Libera Joseph A
• Lipson Albert L
• Liang Yujia

Classifications

• C23C4/11 Primary

  Oxides · CPC title

• C23C4/129

  Flame spraying · CPC title

• H01M4/0402

  Methods of deposition of the material · CPC title

• B05D1/08

  Flame spraying · CPC title

• B22F10/20

  Direct sintering or melting · CPC title