Positive electrode material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11916224-B2
Application number	US-201916976879-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2019
Priority date	Mar 2, 2018
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

A bimodal lithium transition metal oxide based powder mixture comprises a first and a second lithium transition metal oxide based powder. The first powder comprises particles of a material A comprising the elements Li, a transition metal based composition M and oxygen. The first powder has a particle size distribution characterized by a (D90−D10)/D50<1.0. The second powder comprises a material B having single crystal particles, said particles having a general formula Li+bN′−bO2, wherein −0.03≤b≤0.10, and N′=NixM″yCozEd, wherein 0.30≤x≤0.92, 0.05≤y≤0.40, 0.05≤z≤0.40 and 0≤d≤0.10, wherein M″ is one or both of Mn or Al, and E is a dopant different from M″. The first powder has an average particle size D50 between 10 and 40 μm. The second powder has a D50 between 2 and 4 μm. The weight ratio of the second powder in the mixture is between 15 and 60 wt %.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A bimodal lithium transition metal oxide based powder mixture for a rechargeable battery, comprising:
a first lithium transition metal oxide based powder, comprising particles of a material A having a layered crystal structure comprising the elements Li, a transition metal based composition M and oxygen, the first powder having a particle size distribution characterized by a (D90−D10)/D50<1.0; and
a second lithium transition metal oxide based powder, comprising a material B having single crystal particles, said particles having a general formula Li 1+b N′ 1-b O 2 , wherein −0.03≤b≤0.10, and N′=Ni x M″ y Co z E d , wherein 0.30≤x≤0.92, 0.05≤y≤0.40, 0.05≤z≤0.40 and 0≤d≤0.10, with M″ being one or both of Mn or Al, and with E being a dopant different from M″,

the first powder having an average particle size D50 between 10 and 40 μm, the second powder having an average particle size D50 between 2 and 4 μm; and wherein the weight ratio of the second powder in the bimodal mixture is between 15 and 60 wt %.

2. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein the particles of material A have a general formula Li 1+a Co 1−m M′ m O 2 , with −0.05≤a≤0.05 and 0≤m≤0.05, the material A having a D50≥20 μm, and wherein M′ comprises one or more metals selected from the group consisting of Al, Ca, Si, Ga, B, Ti, Mg, W, Zr, Cr and V, and wherein the weight ratio of the second powder in the bimodal mixture is between 15 and 25 wt %.

3. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein the material A is polycrystalline and has particles having a general formula Li 1+a′ M 1−a′ O 2 , with −0.03≤a′≤0.10 and M=Ni x′ Mn y′ Co z′ E d′ , wherein 0.30≤x′≤0.92, 0≤y′≤0.40, 0.05≤z′≤0.40, 0≤d′≤0.05 and x′+y′+z′+d′=1, and E′ comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Al, Ca, Si, Ga, B, Ti, Mg, W, Zr, Cr, V, S, F and N, and wherein the weight ratio of the second powder in the bimodal mixture is between 20 and 60 wt %.

4. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 3 , wherein 0.60≤x′≤0.92, 0≤y′≤0.30, and 0.10≤z′≤0.3.

5. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein E comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Al, Ca, Si, Ga, B, Ti, Mg, W, Zr, Cr, V, S, F and N.

6. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 3 , wherein the first powder has a particle size distribution characterized by an average particle size D50 between 10 and 25 μm and a (D90−D10)/D50≤0.8.

7. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein both the first and the second powder have an aspect ratio substantially equal to 1.

8. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein the bimodal powder has a first corrected pressed density ≥3.2 g/cm 3 , wherein the first corrected pressed density is calculated with the formula PD/100×(100+ID10); wherein PD is the pressed density under a pressure of 200 MPa and ID10 is the increase of the D10 value in the particle size distribution of the bimodal powder calculated as follows:

ID
⁢

⁢
10

=

D
⁢

⁢
10
⁢

⁢
after
⁢

⁢
PDM

-

D
⁢

⁢
10
⁢

⁢
before
⁢

⁢
PDM

D
⁢

⁢
10
⁢

⁢
before
⁢

⁢
PDM

×
100
⁢

⁢

(

in
⁢

⁢
%

)

wherein (D10 after PDM) and (D10 before PDM) are respectively the D10 values after and before the application of a pressure of 200 MPa.

9. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein the bimodal powder has a second corrected pressed density ≥3.0 g/cm 3 , wherein the second corrected pressed density is calculated with the formula PD/100×(100−IB); wherein PD is the pressed density under a pressure of 200 MPa and IB is the increase of the specific surface area BET of the bimodal powder calculated as follows:

IB
=

BET
⁢

⁢
after
⁢

⁢
PDM

-

BET
⁢

⁢
before
⁢

⁢
PDM

BET
⁢

⁢
before
⁢

⁢
PDM

×
100
⁢

⁢

(

in
⁢

⁢
%

)

wherein (BET after PDM) and (BET before PDM) are respectively the BET values after

Assignees

• Umicore Nv
• Umicore Korea Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Dae-Hyun
• Paulsen Jens
• Kumakura Shinichi
• Lee Yuri
• Zhu Liang
• Yang Taehyeon

Classifications

• C01G53/82

  Compounds containing nickel, with or without oxygen or hydrogen, and containing two or more other elements · CPC title

• H01M4/364 Primary

  as mixtures · CPC title

• H01M4/131 Primary

  Electrodes based on mixed oxides or hydroxides, or on mixtures of oxides or hydroxides, e.g. LiCoOx · CPC title

• H01M4/134

  Electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys · CPC title

• H01M4/366

  as layered products · CPC title