Negative electrodes for electrochemical cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020036002-A1
Application number	US-201916523722-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 26, 2019
Priority date	Jul 27, 2018
Publication date	Jan 30, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Various embodiments provide a battery, a bulk energy storage system including the battery, and/or a method of operating the bulk energy storage system including the battery. In various embodiment, the battery may include a first electrode, an electrolyte, and a second electrode, wherein one or both of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises direct reduced iron (“DRI”). In various embodiments, the DRI may be in the form of pellets. In various embodiments, the pellets may comprise at least about 60 wt % iron by elemental mass, based on the total mass of the pellets. In various embodiments, one or both of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises from about 60% to about 90% iron and from about 1% to about 40% of a component comprising one or more of the materials selected from the group of SiO2, Al2O3, MgO, CaO, and TiO2.

First claim

1 . A battery, comprising:
a first electrode; an electrolyte; and a second electrode, wherein one or both of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises direct reduced iron (“DRI”).

2 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the DRI is in the form of pellets.

3 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise at least about 60 wt % iron by elemental mass, based on the total mass of the pellets.

4 . (canceled)

5 . (canceled)

6 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise between about 90 wt % and about 98 wt % metallic iron, based on the total mass of the pellets.

7 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets are spherical, rod-shaped, disk-shaped, plate shaped, briquette-shaped, or a combination thereof.

8 . (canceled)

9 . The battery of claim 7 , wherein the pellets comprise hot briquetted iron formed from powdered iron fines or iron pellets.

10 . The battery of claim 7 , wherein the pellets have an average length ranging from about 10 mm to about 500 mm, an average width ranging from about 5 mm to about 250 mm, and an average height ranging from about 5 mm to about 200 mm.

11 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the DRI comprises iron ore, direct reduced grade iron ore, reduced taconite, wustite, magnetite, hematite, cementite, iron oxide, or any combination thereof.

12 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the DRI comprises DRI fines or powder.

13 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets have an average internal porosity ranging from about 10% to about 90% by volume.

14 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets have an average specific surface area ranging from about 0.19 m 2 /g to about 18 m 2 /g.

15 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets have a volume weighted mean pore size ranging from 1 to 10 microns.

16 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode has a thickness of greater than 0.1 cm.

17 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets are spherical and have an average diameter ranging from about 0.5 mm to about 10 cm.

18 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise greater than 0.5 wt % percent silica containing compounds, based on the total weight of the pellets.

19 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise from about 1 wt % to about 5 wt % silica containing compounds by elemental mass, based on the total mass of the pellets.

20 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise from about 1 wt % to about 25 wt % silica containing compounds by elemental mass, based on the total mass of the pellets.

21 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein a packing fraction of the pellets in at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode is between 30% and 74%.

22 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise:
a primary phase comprising iron; and a secondary phase comprising silicon or another metal.

23 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets comprise:
a primary phase comprising iron; and a secondary phase comprising cementite.

24 . The battery of claim 23 , wherein the secondary phase comprises silica or a silicate.

25 . The battery of claim 23 , wherein the secondary phase comprises titanium, vanadium, manganese, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, carbon, aluminum, zirconium, or any combinations thereof.

26 . (canceled)

27 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the electrolyte is infiltrated between the pellets.

28 . The battery of claim 2 , further comprising a current collector electrically connected to the pellets.

29 . The battery of claim 28 , wherein the current collector contacts a lower surface of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, side surfaces of at least one of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, extends through at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, or any combination thereof.

30 . (canceled)

31 . (canceled)

32 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the second electrode further comprises a slurry or a gel.

33 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode is a composite metal electrode comprising a mixture of the pellets and a smaller metal particle composition.

34 . The battery of claim 33 , wherein the smaller metal particle composition is a powdered metal feedstock.

35 . The battery of claim 34 , wherein powdered metal feedstock is wetted by the electrolyte.

36 . The battery of claim 33 , wherein the smaller metal particle composition comprises DRI fines, sponge iron, atomized iron, or any combination thereof.

37 . The battery of claim 36 , wherein the pellets comprise DR taconite.

38 . (canceled)

39 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein:
the pellets are packed in a bed such that macro-pores are created between two or more pellets in contact with one another; and the pellets each include micro-pores in their respective outer surfaces.

40 . The battery of claim 39 , wherein the pellets are fused together.

41 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets are pre-processed chemically, mechanically, thermally, electrically, and/or electrochemically to fuse at least a portion of the pellets into a packed bed.

42 . (canceled)

43 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets each include micro-pores in their respective outer surfaces.

44 - 50 . (canceled)

51 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein the pellets are initially comprised of at least a portion of cementite (Fe 3 C) before operation of the battery.

52 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode further comprises a layer of powdered iron configured to form an interface between the pellets and a current collector of the battery.

53 . The battery of claim 1 , further comprising a monitoring system configured to monitor the state-of-charge (SOC) and/or state-of-health of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode.

54 . (canceled)

55 . The battery of claim 53 , wherein the monitoring system comprises one or more sensor and the one or more sensor is selected from the group consisting of a strain gauge, a Mossbauer spectrometer, a CCD detector, an ultrasonic transducer, an ion sensing electrode, a thermocouple, and a gas sensor.

56 . The battery of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode is a composite metal electrode comprising a mixture of the pellets and a conductive material dispersed between individual ones of the pellets.

57 . The battery of claim 56 , wherein the conductive material comprises one or more conductive fibers, one or more wires, one or more meshes, and/or one or more sheets.

58 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the first electrode is a negative electrode and comprises the DRI.

59 . The battery of claim 1 , further comprising

Assignees

• Form Energy Inc

Inventors

• Chakraborty Rupak
• Milshtein Jarrod David
• Weber Eric
• Woodford William Henry
• Chiang Yet-Ming
• Mckay Ian Salmon
• Su Liang
• Whitacre Jay
• Wiley Theodore Alan
• Carlisle Kristen
• Westwood Mitchell Terrance
• Mumma Rachel Elizabeth
• Chu Max Rae
• Kharey Amelie Nina
• Hultman Benjamin Thomas
• Ferrara Marco
• Jaramillo Mateo Cristian
• Caruso Isabella
• Newhouse Jocelyn

Classifications

• H01M2004/021

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

• H01M4/364

  as mixtures · CPC title

• H01M2004/025

  with shapes other than plane or cylindrical · CPC title

• H01M10/48

  Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte (constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569) · CPC title

• H01M4/38 Primary

  of elements or alloys · CPC title