Strain tolerant particle structures for high energy anode materials and sythesis methods thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021075000-A1
Application number	US-202017011740-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 3, 2020
Priority date	Sep 6, 2019
Publication date	Mar 11, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed herein are embodiments of strain tolerant particle structures, methods of manufacturing such structures, and precursors to form said structures. In some embodiments, the structures can be formed of a network of nano-scale walls. The structures can be incorporated into powders, which can then be used for any number of applications, such as microwave plasma processing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A strain tolerant particle comprising:
a plurality of walls surrounding a plurality of voids, the walls being between 10-90% of a total volume of the particle; and Si, Si monoxide, Sn, or Sn oxide; wherein the particle is configured to stay within 50 volume % during lithiation and delithiation.

2 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of voids are closed cells.

3 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of voids are open cells.

4 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of voids are a mixture of closed cells and open cells.

5 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of walls are between 20 and 50% of the total volume of the particle.

6 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of walls have a thickness of between 50 and 150 nm.

7 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the particle is coated with carbon.

8 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the particle is configured to stay within 10 volume % during lithiation and delithiation.

9 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the particle further comprises a transition metal.

10 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the particle comprises polydimethylsiloxane.

11 . The particle of claim 1 , wherein the particle comprises diphenylsiloxane.

12 . A powder formed from a plurality of the particle of claim 1 .

13 . The powder of claim 12 , wherein a D50 of the powder lies between 0.2 and 100 um.

14 . An anode formed from the particle of claim 1 .

15 . A battery formed from the anode of claim 14 .

16 . A method of manufacturing a strain tolerant powder, the method comprising:
preparing a precursor material including an Si, Si monoxide, Sn, or Sn oxide material and a component that produces gas; forming droplets from the precursor material; and interacting the droplets in a plasma or plasma exhaust of a microwave plasma torch to produce gases from the component and form a powder of a plurality of particles; wherein the precursor material is configured to prevent gas bubbles formed during synthesis from coalescing and/or escaping; and wherein the particles in the powder are configured to stay within 50 volume % during lithiation and delithiation.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a viscosity of the precursor material is between 3 and 500 cS.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of particles includes a carbon coating.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of particles includes an Al 2 O 3 coating.

20 . A strain tolerant particle comprising:
a composition comprising:
silicon, tin, or a combination of silicon and tin;
a transition metal; and
silica; and
a plurality of walls surrounding a plurality of voids, the walls being between 10-90% of a total volume of the particle; wherein the particle is configured to stay within 50 volume % during lithiation and delithiation.

Assignees

• 6K Inc

Inventors

• Holman Richard K
• Nation Leah

Classifications

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H05H1/4622

  using waveguides · CPC title

• H05H1/42

  with provisions for introducing materials into the plasma, e.g. powder or liquid {(arc stabilising or constricting arrangements H05H1/3405; coaxial protecting fluids H05H1/341)} · CPC title

• H05H1/30 Primary

  using applied electromagnetic fields, e.g. high frequency or microwave energy (H05H1/28 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M2004/027

  Negative electrodes · CPC title