Li-ion cells with extreme fast charging capabilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12424708-B2
Application number	US-202418604062-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2024
Priority date	Mar 14, 2023
Publication date	Sep 23, 2025
Grant date	Sep 23, 2025

Abstract

Rechargeable battery cells and methods for extreme fast charging are disclosed. For example, such a rechargeable battery cell might be chargeable to at least 70% of usable capacity within 15 minutes. Such a rechargeable battery cell may include an anode having at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, up to 8.0 mAh/cm 2 , containing a Si—C composite within a porous structure and including a carbon-based conductive additive, wherein the Si—C composite is at least 30% Si by weight, and the material is at least 85% Si—C composite. The rechargeable battery cell may also include a cathode having at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, up to 6 mAh/cm 2 , wherein a ratio of areal capacity of the at least one surface of the anode to the at least one surface of the cathode is between 1.15 to 1.45.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rechargeable battery cell, comprising:
an anode having at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, up to 8.0 mAh/cm 2 , and containing a Si—C composite within a porous structure and including a carbon-based conductive additive, wherein the Si—C composite is at least 30% Si by weight, and the material is at least 85% Si—C composite;
a cathode having at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, up to 6 mAh/cm 2 , wherein a ratio of areal capacity of the at least one surface of the anode to the at least one surface of the cathode is between 1.15 to 1.45;
an electrolyte capable of carrying Li-ions between the anode and the cathode; and
a dielectric separator between the anode and the cathode, the separator having a porosity of greater than 38%,
at least one carbon material or carbon additive;
a binder in an amount less than 20% by weight; and
a polymer-based dispersant in an amount less than 2% by weight,
wherein the polymer-based dispersant includes polymer chains between 10,000 and 50,000 g/mol, and
wherein an interface between the anode and the cathode is pressurized in an amount sufficient to manage volumetric changes during charging and discharging processes, and wherein the anode and cathode are configured to cooperate to output an average discharge voltage of no greater than 3.55 V.

2. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the amount of pressure sufficient to manage volumetric changes is an amount that maintains porosity of the porous structure and remains below 2 Atm.

3. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte includes a lithium electrolyte salt and at least one additive for improving a lifetime of the battery.

4. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 3 , wherein the lithium electrolyte salt is selected from a group consisting of LiPF 6 , LiBF 4 , lithium bis(oxalato)borate, LiN(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 , LiN(C 2 F 5 SO 2 ) 2 , LiAsF 6 , LiC(CF 3 SO 2 ) 3 , LiClO 4 , and LiTFSI or combination thereof.

5. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 3 , wherein the at least one additive for improving the lifetime of the battery cell includes ethylene carbonate (EC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC), diethyl carbonate (DEC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), vinyl carbonate (VC), or fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC).

6. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the anode, the cathode, and the separator are configured to cooperate to enable sequential charging and discharging, such that during sequential charging at least 70% of usable capacity is loaded within 15 minutes.

7. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the cathode includes a material selected from a group consisting of LNO (lithium nickel oxide), LMO (lithium manganese oxide), LNMO (lithium nickel manganese oxide), LFP (lithium ferro phosphate), NMC (nickel manganese cobalt), or derivatives and combination thereof.

8. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 7 , wherein the NMC comprises 60-100 atomic % nickel, 0-20 atomic % manganese, and 0-20 atomic % cobalt.

9. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 8 , wherein the NMC includes NMC622 (60 atomic % nickel, 20 atomic % manganese, and 20 atomic % cobalt), NMC811 (80 atomic % nickel, 10 atomic % manganese, and 10 atomic % cobalt, or NMC9xx (90 atomic % nickel), or derivatives and combination thereof.

10. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the cathode materials are defined by the formula AzM(TOy)yX, wherein:
A—represents an alkali or alkaline-earth element, typically Li, alone or partially replaced by at most 10% of Na and/or K;
z is defined by 1≤z≤3,
M—represents a metal, typically Fe, Mn, Ni, Al, V, Co or more aliovalent or isovalent metals selected from Mg, Mo, Nb, Ti, Ta, Ge, La, Y, Yb, Cu, Sm, Ce, Hf, Cr, Zr, Bi, Zn, Ca, B and W or combination thereof;
T—represents a p-block element, typically Si, P, S or combination thereof;
y is defined by 2≤y≤4; and
X—represents O, OH, or F.

11. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the at least one carbon material or carbon additive includes carbon-based fibers.

12. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 11 , wherein the carbon-based fibers include carbon nanotubes.

13. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric separator includes a polyolefin polymer selected from polyethylene and polypropylene and has a porosity above 40%.

14. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 13 , wherein the separator has a Gurley number of below 200 s/100 mL.

15. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte has a water content of less than 20 ppm.

16. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte contains chlorides in an amount less than 5 ppm and metal residues in an amount less than 5 ppm.

17. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte has a density [g/mL] ranging from 1.0 to 1.3.

18. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte exhibits a conductivity [mS/cm] ranging from 10-30 at room temperature.

19. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the binder is a halogenated binder present in an amount ranging from 4-10% of a weight of the battery.

20. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 19 , wherein the binders are PVDF-HFP or modified PVDF.

21. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the anode includes active material in an amount ranging from 86-94% and conductive additives in an amount ranging from 0-2% by weight.

22. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the Si—C composite comprises silicon-carbon (Si/C), silicon oxide-carbon (SiOx/C, wherein 0<x<2), SiN/C and mixtures thereof.

23. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the anode has at least one surface with an areal capacity between 5 and 6 mAh/cm 2 and the cathode has at least one surface with an areal capacity between 4 and 5 mAh/cm 2 , wherein a ratio of areal capacity of the at least one surface of the anode to the at least one surface of the cathode is between 1.25 to 1.45.

24. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the anode has at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, between 6 and 8.0 mAh/cm 2 and the cathode has at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, between 5 and 6 mAh/cm 2 , wherein a ratio of areal capacity of the at least one surface of the anode to the at least one surface of the cathode is between 1.15 to 1.35.

25. The rechargeable battery cell of claim 1 , which is able to exhibit at least 1000 consecutive fast charge cycles to 80% capacity retention.

26. A method of charging a rechargeable battery cell, the method comprising:
providing a charging current under conditions sufficient to enable charging of at least 70% of usable capacity to the rechargeable battery cell within 15 minutes;
wherein the rechargeable battery cell includes:
an anode having at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, up to 8.0 mAh/cm 2 , and containing a Si—C composite within a porous structure and including a carbon-based conductive additive, wherein the Si—C composite is at least 30% Si by weight, and the material is at least 85% Si—C composite;
a cathode having at least one surface with a reversible areal capacity, after formation, up to 6 mAh/cm 2 , wherein the ratio of areal capacity of the at least one sur

Assignees

• Storedot Ltd

Inventors

• Aronov Daniel
• Kedem Nir
• Ideses Yaron
• Corfas Dan
• Zehavi Assaf
• Ioffe Zvi

Classifications

• H01M2300/0051

  Carbonates · CPC title

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title

• H01M10/441

  for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H01M4/625

  Carbon or graphite · CPC title

• H01M4/136

  Electrodes based on inorganic compounds other than oxides or hydroxides, e.g. sulfides, selenides, tellurides, halogenides or LiCoFy · CPC title