Method and systems for metal doping on battery cathode materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020365874-A1
Application number	US-201816765842-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 20, 2018
Priority date	Nov 22, 2017
Publication date	Nov 19, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for a battery cathode material comprising greater than or equal to 60% nickel content, the cathode material having at least one metal doped therein. In one example, a method comprises doping the at least one metal into the cathode material using water as a solvent, wherein the at least one metal has an ionic radii greater than 60 picometers. The at least one metal may be selected from strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), technetium (Tc), ruthenium (Ru), tungsten (W), platinum (Pt), neodymium (Nd), yttrium (Y), and cerium (Ce).

First claim

1 . A method comprising:
dissolving a dopant salt in water, the dopant salt comprising one or more metals having ionic radii greater than 60 picometers; forming a mixture of a nickel, manganese, and cobalt oxide (NMC) powder with the dopant salt in the water; and heating the mixture to form a cathode material.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more metals are selected from one or more of strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), technetium (Tc), ruthenium (Ru), tungsten (W), platinum (Pt), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), cerium (Ce), yttrium (Y), praseodymium (Pr), and lanthanum (La).

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ionic radius of each of the one or more metals is 1.5 times greater than an ionic radius of nickel.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the cathode material comprises greater than or equal to 60% nickel.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dopant salt is NdI 3 .

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dopant salt is Nd(NO 3 ) 3 .

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dopant salt is Y(NO 3 ) 3 .

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dopant salt is Y(CH 2 COOH) 3 .

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dopant salt is dissolved into the water at an amount between 0.01 to 15 wt. % of the NMC powder.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dopant salt is dissolved into the water at an amount equal to 3 wt. % of the NMC powder.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the heating the mixture includes heating the mixture to a pre-sinter temperature and a sinter temperature, where the pre-sinter temperature is less than the sinter temperature, where the pre-sinter temperature is between 150 to 900° C., and where the sinter temperature is between 300 to 950° C.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the heating the mixture includes heating the mixture to a temperature between 100 to 950° C.

13 . A method for forming a cathode material comprising greater than or equal to 60% nickel, the method comprising:
dissolving a dopant salt in water, where the dopant salt comprises a metal having an atomic radius greater than 60 picometers; forming a mixture comprising an NMC powder and the dopant salt in the water; heating a suspension of the mixture until dry; grinding the dry suspension; and sintering the ground, dry suspension.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the dissolving the dopant salt includes dissolving the dopant salt in only the water.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the dissolving the dopant salt includes dissolving the dopant salt into the water at 3 wt. % of the NMC powder, where the dopant salt is water-soluble.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the dopant salt is dissolved in the water, an organic solvent, or a combination thereof.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the sintering includes heating the NMC powder and the dopant salt to a temperature between 100 to 950° C.

18 . A cathode material for a lithium ion battery, the cathode material comprising:
a nickel, cobalt, and manganese powder, where nickel forms greater than or equal to 60% of the powder; and a metal comprising an atomic radius greater than 60 picometers, where the metal is doped into the powder via water, wherein a secondary phase of the metal is arranged on surfaces of the cathode material.

19 . The cathode material of claim 18 , wherein the secondary phase is uniformly arranged on the surfaces of the cathode material.

20 . The cathode material of claim 18 , wherein the metal is selected from Sr, Ba, Rb, Cs, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, W, Pt, Nd, Ce, Y, and combinations thereof.

Assignees

• A123 Systems Llc

Inventors

• Wang Lixin
• Zhou Weidong
• Parmar Anil
• Zhou Fu
• Johnson Derek C

Classifications

• C01G53/50 Primary

  of the type (MnO2)n-, e.g. Li(NixMn1-x)O2 or Li(MyNixMn1-x-y)O2 · CPC title

• C01P2002/50

  Solid solutions · CPC title

• H01M4/505

  of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing manganese for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiMn2O4 or LiMn2OxFy · CPC title

• H01M4/485

  of mixed oxides or hydroxides for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiTi2O4 or LiTi2OxFy (H01M4/505, H01M4/525 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M4/525

  of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing iron, cobalt or nickel for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiNiO2, LiCoO2 or LiCoOxFy · CPC title