Processing and recycling method and product of ultrathin lithium foil

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12215431-B2
Application number	US-202418826224-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2024
Priority date	Mar 7, 2022
Publication date	Feb 4, 2025
Grant date	Feb 4, 2025

Abstract

Disclosed are a method for processing and recycling an ultrathin lithium foil and a product, which belongs to the field of lithium-ion batteries. According to the disclosure, a liquid-phase thinning agent is adopted to perform a contact reaction with a lithium metal, the fabricated ultrathin lithium foil has a thickness of 20 μm or less, the surface is flat, the thickness can be randomly regulated, and the uniformity is good. The method of the disclosure can also recycle a lithium-containing byproduct generated in the preparation process. When the ultrathin metal lithium foil prepared by the disclosure is used as a metal lithium negative electrode of a lithium battery, the energy density of the battery can be improved, and the battery manufacturing cost is reduced. The ultrathin metal lithium foil can also be used to supplement lithium for other types of electrode materials, thereby a broad application prospect is achieved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing and recycling an ultrathin lithium foil, comprising thinning a thick lithium foil, specifically, using a liquid-phase thinning agent to perform a contact reaction with a lithium metal, and further thinning the lithium foil through corrosion of metal lithium by the liquid-phase thinning agent to fabricate ultrathin lithium with a thickness of less than 20 μm, wherein
the liquid-phase thinning agent comprises a complexing agent and an organic solvent, the complexing agent is dissolved in the organic solvent, and the complexing agent is selected from one or more of naphthalene and derivatives thereof, biphenyl and derivatives thereof, anthracene and derivatives thereof, phenanthrene and derivatives thereof, pyrene and derivatives thereof, and tetracene and derivatives thereof.

2. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 1 , wherein the organic solvent is selected from one or more of ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether.

3. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 2 , wherein a concentration of the complexing agent in the organic solvent is 0.01 mol/L to 10 mol/L.

4. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 2 , wherein the lithium foil after the contact reaction with the thinning agent is washed with a washing agent to remove the thinning agent remaining on a surface to obtain the ultrathin lithium foil, and the washing agent is selected from one or more of ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether.

5. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 1 , wherein the thick lithium foil comprises one or more of a lithium metal foil, a lithium composite foil, and a lithium alloy foil, wherein the lithium composite foil comprises a lithium/metal M composite foil and a lithium/non-metal X composite foil, wherein the element M comprises one or more of Cu, Bi, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cs, Zr, and Ta, and the element X comprises one or more of B, C, and S; the lithium alloy foil is Li x N alloy foil, wherein the element N comprises one or more of Zn, In, Al, Mg, B, Pb, Pd, Pd, Sn, Si, Ca, Ag, Au, Ga, and Ge.

6. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 1 , wherein according to a thickness requirement of a final ultrathin lithium, a contact reaction time, a contact manner, or a concentration of the liquid-phase thinning agent is randomly regulated to achieve random regulation of the thickness of the ultrathin lithium.

7. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 2 , wherein according to a thickness requirement of a final ultrathin lithium, a contact reaction time, a contact manner, or a concentration of the liquid-phase thinning agent is randomly regulated to achieve random regulation of the thickness of the ultrathin lithium.

8. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 3 , wherein according to a thickness requirement of a final ultrathin lithium, a contact reaction time, a contact manner, or a concentration of the liquid-phase thinning agent is randomly regulated to achieve random regulation of the thickness of the ultrathin lithium.

9. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 4 , wherein according to a thickness requirement of a final ultrathin lithium, a contact reaction time, a contact manner, or a concentration of the liquid-phase thinning agent is randomly regulated to achieve random regulation of the thickness of the ultrathin lithium.

10. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 5 , wherein according to a thickness requirement of a final ultrathin lithium, a contact reaction time, a contact manner, or a concentration of the liquid-phase thinning agent is randomly regulated to achieve random regulation of the thickness of the ultrathin lithium.

11. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 6 , wherein the metal lithium is corroded by the liquid-phase thinning agent, and washing liquid containing active lithium is obtained after washing, the washing liquid is used as a liquid byproduct containing active lithium used as a prelithiation reagent, a surface cleaning agent, or/and a reducing agent.

12. The method for processing and recycling the ultrathin lithium foil of claim 11 , wherein after the liquid byproduct containing active lithium is used up, a waste liquid containing lithium ions is obtained, a carbonate solution is added to the waste liquid to obtain lithium carbonate precipitation, and a lithium source dissolved in the liquid phase is recovered.

Assignees

• Univ Huazhong Science Tech

Inventors

• Li Huiqiao
• Hu Mingtao
• Zhai Tianyou

Classifications

• C23F1/46

  Regeneration of etching compositions · CPC title

• C23F1/44

  Compositions for etching metallic material from a metallic material substrate of different composition · CPC title

• C23F1/10

  Etching compositions (C23F1/44 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M2004/027

  Negative electrodes · CPC title

• H01M4/1395

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