Interfacial engineering for stable lithium metal anodes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016013462-A1
Application number	US-201514790885-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 2, 2015
Priority date	Jul 10, 2014
Publication date	Jan 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A battery includes 1) an anode, 2) a cathode, and 3) an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode. The anode includes a current collector and an interfacial layer disposed over the current collector, and the interfacial layer includes an array of interconnected, protruding regions that define spaces.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A battery comprising:
an anode; a cathode; and an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the anode includes a current collector and an interfacial layer disposed over the current collector, and the interfacial layer includes an array of interconnected, protruding regions that define spaces.

2 . The battery of claim 1 , further comprising an anode material, and the spaces defined by the protruding regions accommodate the anode material.

3 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the interfacial layer is configured as a barrier to separate the anode material from the electrolyte.

4 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the anode material is lithium metal.

5 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the protruding regions has an aspect ratio greater than 3.

6 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the protruding regions includes a wall having a thickness in the range of 0.5 nm to 100 nm.

7 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the interfacial layer is formed of at least one material selected from carbon, layered materials, metal carbides, non-metal carbides, metal nitrides, non-metal nitrides, metal silicides, non-metal silicides, and metal alloys.

8 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the interfacial layer is formed of at least one material having a Young's modulus of at least 50 GPa.

9 . The battery of claim 1 , further comprising seeds disposed within the spaces, and the seeds are configured to promote deposition of an anode material.

10 . A battery comprising:
an anode; a cathode; and an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the anode includes a current collector and an interfacial layer disposed over the current collector, and the interfacial layer includes an array of encapsulating structures that define interior spaces.

11 . The battery of claim 10 , further comprising an anode material, and the encapsulating structures accommodate the anode material within the interior spaces.

12 . The battery of claim 11 , wherein the anode material is lithium metal.

13 . The battery of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the encapsulating structures includes a wall having a thickness in the range of 0.5 nm to 100 nm.

14 . The battery of claim 10 , wherein the interfacial layer is formed of at least one material selected from carbon, layered materials, metal carbides, non-metal carbides, metal nitrides, non-metal nitrides, metal silicides, non-metal silicides, and metal alloys.

15 . The battery of claim 10 , wherein the interfacial layer is formed of at least one material having a Young's modulus of at least 50 GPa.

16 . The battery of claim 10 , further comprising seeds disposed within the interior spaces, and the seeds are configured to promote deposition of an anode material.

17 . A battery electrode comprising:
a current collector; an interfacial layer disposed over the current collector; and an electrode material disposed between the current collector and the interfacial layer, wherein the interfacial layer includes a layered material.

18 . The battery electrode of claim 17 , wherein the electrode material is lithium metal.

19 . The battery electrode of claim 17 , wherein the layered material is selected from boron nitride, graphene, layered metal oxides, and layered metal chalcogenides.

20 . The battery electrode of claim 17 , wherein the interfacial layer has a thickness of 1 to 50 layers of the layered material.

Assignees

• Univ Leland Stanford Junior

Inventors

• Cui Yi
• Zheng Guangyuan
• Chu Steven
• Yan Kai

Classifications

• H01M4/134

  Electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys · CPC title

• H01M10/0525

  Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries · CPC title

• H01M2004/027

  Negative electrodes · CPC title

• H01M4/38

  of elements or alloys · CPC title

• H01M4/58

  of inorganic compounds other than oxides or hydroxides, e.g. sulfides, selenides, tellurides, halogenides or LiCoFy; of polyanionic structures, e.g. phosphates, silicates or borates · CPC title