Lithium ion conducting membranes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020086281-A1
Application number	US-201816134465-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 18, 2018
Priority date	Sep 18, 2018
Publication date	Mar 19, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A lithium ion conducting membrane and methods of making the same. The membrane includes a polymeric matrix and a plurality of ion-conducting particles disposed within the polymeric matrix. An inorganic coating deposited in the polymeric matrix.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An hybrid inorganic/organic membrane comprising:
a polymeric matrix; a plurality of ion-conducting particles disposed within the polymeric matrix, the plurality of ion-conducting particles forming ion conducting channels in the polymer matrix; and an inorganic coating deposited in the polymeric matrix, the inorganic coating being a uniform layer 1 to 10,000 atoms thick.

2 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic coating is ion-permeable and the hybrid inorganic/organic membrane is impermeable to both aqueous and organic media.

3 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic coating is covalently bonded.

4 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic coating comprises a metal oxide.

5 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 1 , wherein inorganic coating comprises a material selected from the group consisting of alumina (Al2O3), zirconia (ZrO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO).

6 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric matrix comprises a solid matrix with through-pores and further wherein each of the through-pores are filled with ion-conducting particles.

7 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 1 , wherein the ion-conducting particles comprise a material selected from crystalline solids and non-crystalline solids.

8 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 7 , wherein the crystalline solids are selected from the group consisting of LiFePO4, lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO), lithium titanium oxide (LTO), lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), and NASICON-type Li2O-Al2O3-SiO2-P2O5-TiO2.

9 . The hybrid inorganic/organic membrane of claim 7 , wherein the non-crystalline solids comprise lithiated silica.

10 . A method of making a hybrid inorganic/organic membrane comprising
forming a polymer framework having a plurality of pores; and integrating a plurality of ion conducting particles into the polymer framework.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein integrating the plurality of ion conducting particles comprises:
forming a slurry comprising the plurality of ion conducting particles; and applying the slurry to the polymer framework.

12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of ion conducting particles comprise a material selected from LiFePO4 and NASICON-type powder.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein forming the polymer matrix comprises 3-D printing.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein integrating the plurality of ion conducting particles comprises:
forming an aqueous mixture of lithium ion conducting particles suspended in an aqueous solution of a first monomer; filtering the aqueous mixture through the polymer framework and capturing the lithium ion conducting particles within the polymer matrix; rinsing a hexane solution of a second monomer through the polymer matrix; and reacting the first monomer and the second monomer to fix the ion conducting particles within the polymer framework and forming a polymer layer on a first side of the membrane.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the polymer layer is a polyamide layer.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first monomer is an amine such m-phenylenediamine and the second monomer is an activated carbonyl compound such as 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl chloride.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further wherein the polyamide layer is etched.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the polyamide layer is etched by application of a protease.

Assignees

• Uchicago Argonne Llc

Inventors

• Hryn John N
• Ignacio-De Leon Patricia
• Barry Edward F
• Singh Dileep
• Tang Li

Classifications

• H01M4/1395

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

• H01M4/134

  Electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys · CPC title

• H01M4/0469

  Electroforming a self-supporting electrode; Electroforming of powdered electrode material · CPC title

• H01M4/0452

  from solutions · CPC title

• H01M4/382

  Lithium (H01M4/405 takes precedence) · CPC title