Cathode, lithium air battery including cathode, and method of preparing lithium air battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020220180-A1
Application number	US-202016734571-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 6, 2020
Priority date	Jan 9, 2019
Publication date	Jul 9, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cathode, a lithium air battery including a cathode, and a method of preparing the lithium air battery. A cathode configured to use oxygen as a cathode active material, the cathode including: a lithium alloy represented by Formula 1
Li x M y   Formula 1
wherein, in Formula 1, M is Pb, Sn, Mo, Hf, U, Nb, Th, Ta, Bi, Mg, Al, Si, Zn, Ag, Cd, In, Sb, Pt, or Au, 0<x≥10, 0<y≥10, and 0<x/y<10.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A cathode configured to use oxygen as a cathode active material, the cathode comprising a lithium alloy.

2 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the lithium alloy is an electronic conductor and a lithium ion conductor.

3 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the lithium alloy is represented by Formula 1:
Li x M y   Formula 1
wherein, in Formula 1, M is a metal alloyable with lithium, and 0<x≥10, 0<y≥10, and 0<x/y<10.

4 . The cathode of claim 3 , wherein, in Formula 1, M is at least one of Pb, Sn, Mo, Hf, U, Nb, Th, Ta, Bi, Mg, Al, Si, Zn, Ag, Cd, In, Sb, Pt, and Au.

5 . The cathode of claim 3 , wherein, in Formula 1, 0<x/y<5.

6 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the lithium alloy is at least one of Li 0.06 Pt, Li 0.14 Pt, Li 0.33 Pt, LiPt, Li 2 Pt, LiPt 7 , Li 0.06 Au, Li 0.14 Au, Li 0.33 Au, LiAu, Li 2 Au, LiAu 7 , Li 0.06 Ag, Li 0.14 Ag, Li 0.33 Ag, LiAg, Li 2 Ag, or LiAg 7 .

7 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein an electronic conductivity of the lithium alloy is about 1.0×10 −3 Siemens per centimeter (S/cm) or higher.

8 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein a discharge capacity of the lithium alloy is about 1.0 microampere-hour per square centimeter (μAh/cm 2 ) or greater.

9 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein a discharge capacity of the lithium alloy relative to a weight of the cathode is about 100 milliampere-hours per gram of the cathode (mAh/g_ cathode ) or greater.

10 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the lithium alloy is electrochemically stable at a voltage of about 2.5 volts (V) or greater versus (vs.) lithium metal.

11 . The cathode of claim 1 , further comprising a metal that is a precursor of the lithium alloy.

12 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the cathode is porous.

13 . A lithium air battery comprising:
the cathode of claim 1 ; an anode comprising lithium; and an electrolyte between the cathode and the anode.

14 . The lithium air battery of claim 13 , wherein the lithium air battery further comprises a discharge product disposed on a surface of the cathode, wherein the discharge product comprises at least one of lithium peroxide, lithium oxide, lithium hydroxide, or lithium carbonate.

15 . The lithium air battery of claim 14 , wherein a thickness of the discharge product is about 10 micrometers (μm) or less.

16 . The lithium air battery of claim 14 , wherein the discharge product is at least one of Li 2 O 2 , LiOH, Li 2 CO 3 , or Li 2 O.

17 . The lithium air battery of claim 13 , wherein the electrolyte comprises a solid electrolyte.

18 . The lithium air battery of claim 17 , wherein the solid electrolyte is at least one of a lithium ion-conductive glass, a crystalline lithium ion-conductive ceramic, or a crystalline lithium ion-conductive glass-ceramic.

19 . The lithium air battery of claim 17 , wherein the solid electrolyte comprises at least one of lithium-aluminum-germanium-phosphate (LAGP), lithium-aluminum-titanium-phosphate (LATP), or lithium-aluminum-titanium-silicon-phosphate (LATSP).

20 . A method of preparing the lithium air battery of claim 13 , the method comprising:
disposing an electrolyte film on an anode comprising lithium; disposing a metal alloyable with lithium on the electrolyte film; and electrochemically forming a lithium alloy from the metal alloyable with lithium to form a cathode on the electrolyte film to prepare the lithium air battery.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the electrolyte film is a solid electrolyte film.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Choi Wonsung
• Kim Hyunjin
• Choi Kyounghwan
• Kim Mokwon
• Minami Daiki

Classifications

• H01M2300/0068

  inorganic · CPC title

• H01M4/8673

  Electrically conductive fillers · CPC title

• H01M4/8605

  Porous electrodes · CPC title

• H01M4/9041 Primary

  Metals or alloys (H01M4/92 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M10/0562

  Solid materials · CPC title