Solid-state multi-layer electrolyte, electrochemical cell and battery including the electrolyte, and method of forming same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016261002-A1
Application number	US-201615065706-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 9, 2016
Priority date	Mar 17, 2011
Publication date	Sep 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electrochemical cell including a multi-layer solid-state electrolyte, a battery including the cell, and a method of forming the battery and cell are disclosed. The electrolyte includes a first layer that is compatible with the anode of the cell and a second layer that is compatible with the cathode of the cell. The cell exhibits improved performance compared to cells including a single-layer electrolyte.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A solid-state electrochemical cell based on lithium ion transport, the cell comprising:
an anode; a composite cathode comprising electroactive cathode material; and a solid-state electrolyte interposed between the anode and cathode, wherein the solid-state electrolyte comprises:
a first electrolyte layer that is stable with regard to the anode; and
a second electrolyte layer that is stable with regard to the cathode.

2 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the anode material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of lithium metal, indium metal, nano-silicon composite material, silicon alloys, carbon, and combination of these materials.

3 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises an oxide material, an electrically-conducting carbon material, and second electrolyte layer material.

4 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the electroactive cathode material is selected from the group consisting of LiCoO 2 , Li 1 N 0.85 Co 0.1 Al 0.05 O 2 , LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 , LiFePO 4 , LiMn 2 O 4 , and a combination of these materials.

5 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the cathode active material has an average particle size ranging from about 0.01 μm to about 20 μm.

6 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises cathode active material particles coated with between about 0.2 and about 5 nm of material.

7 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 6 , wherein the particles are coated with the material using atomic layer deposition techniques.

8 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 6 , wherein material comprises aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, or any combination thereof.

9 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 6 , wherein the coated cathode is heat treated at a temperature between 250° C. and 600° C.

10 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 6 , wherein the cathode is heat treated in a reducing atmosphere comprising one or more of argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen.

11 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 6 , wherein the cathode is heat treated for about 1 hr to about 24 hrs.

12 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the first electrolyte layer is adjacent the anode and comprises x Li 2 S(1−x)P 2 S 5 , where x is a molar ratio and ranges from about 60 to about 80.

13 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the first electrolyte layer comprises particles with size of about 0.5 to about 20 μm.

14 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the second electrolyte layer comprises particles with size of about 0.5 to about 20 μm.

15 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the second electrolyte layer is adjacent the cathode and comprises Li x Ge y P z S 4 , where x, y, z are mole concentrations and range from 2.3<x<4, 0<y<1, and 0<z<1.

16 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the second electrolyte layer is heat treated at a temperature between 300° C. and 550° C.

17 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the second electrolyte layer is heat treated in a reducing atmosphere comprising one or more of argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen.

18 . The solid-state electrochemical cell of claim 1 , wherein the second electrolyte layer is heat treated for about 1 hr to about 24 hrs.

19 . A method of forming an electrochemical cell, the method comprising the steps of:
providing an anode; providing a cathode comprising electroactive cathode material; and providing a solid-state electrolyte, wherein the step of providing a solid-state electrolyte comprises the steps of:
preparing a first electrolyte layer composition;
preparing a second electrolyte layer composition; and
forming a multi-layer electrolyte using the first electrolyte layer and the second electrolyte layer.

20 . A battery comprising:
a housing; a first terminal; an anode coupled to the first terminal; a solid-state electrolyte comprising a first electrolyte layer stable with regard to the anode and a second electrolyte layer stable with regard to the cathode; a cathode; and a second terminal coupled to the cathode.

Assignees

• Univ Colorado Regents

Inventors

• Trevey James
• Lee Se-Hee
• Woo Jae-Ha

Classifications

• H01M50/531

  Electrode connections inside a battery casing · CPC title

• H01M50/543

  Terminals · CPC title

• H01M2/021

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M4/1391

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

• H01M4/043

  involving compressing or compaction · CPC title