Positive electrode material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11949096-B2
Application number	US-201916976884-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2019
Priority date	Mar 2, 2018
Publication date	Apr 2, 2024
Grant date	Apr 2, 2024

Abstract

A bimodal lithium transition metal oxide based powder mixture comprising a first and a second lithium transition metal oxide based powder. The first powder comprises a material A having a layered crystal structure comprising the elements Li, a transition metal based composition M and oxygen and has a particle size distribution with a span <1.0. The second powder has a monolithic morphology and 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 E being a dopant different from M″. The first powder has an average particle size D50 between 10 and 40 μm. The second powder has an average particle size D50 between 2 and 4 μm. The weight ratio of the second powder in the bimodal mixture is between 20 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, 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′ is one or more metals of the group consisting of Al, Ca, Si, Ga, B, Ti, Mg, W, Zr, Cr and V, the first powder having a particle size distribution with a span <1.0; and
a second lithium transition metal oxide based powder, comprising a material B having a monolithic morphology, 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 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 E is one of more elements of the group consisting of Al, Ca, Si, Ga, B, Ti, Mg, W, Zr, Cr, V, S, F and N.

4. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein the first powder has an average particle size D50 between 10 and 25 μm and a span ≤0.8.

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

6. 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.

7. 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 and before the application of a pressure of 200 MPa.

8. The bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , wherein the particles of the powder mixture have a surface layer comprising an intimate mixture of the elements of M, LiF and Al 2 O 3.

9. A positive electrode mixture for a rechargeable battery comprising the bimodal powder mixture of claim 1 , a binder and a conductive agent, wherein the weight ratio of the bimodal powder mixture in the positive electrode mixture is at least 90 wt % and wherein the positive electrode mixture has a density of at least 3.65 g/cm 3 when pressed under 1765.2 N.

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