Electrolyte membrane for lithium-air battery, method of manufacturing same and lithium-air battery comprising same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021376424-A1
Application number	US-202017129155-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 21, 2020
Priority date	Jun 2, 2020
Publication date	Dec 2, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed are an electrolyte membrane for a lithium-air battery, a method of manufacturing the same, a cathode for a lithium-air battery, a method of manufacturing the same, and a lithium-air battery including the electrolyte membrane and the cathode. Particularly, the lithium-air battery includes i) an electrolyte membrane, which is manufactured using an inorganic melt admixture including two or more nitrogen-oxide compounds and thus may have a very low eutectic point, and ii) a cathode, which is manufactured by reducing a metal at a fast speed on a carbon material. As such, the lithium-air battery is capable of stably operating even at low temperatures and providing high power output.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of manufacturing an electrolyte membrane for a lithium-air battery, comprising:
preparing an inorganic salt; preparing an inorganic melt admixture comprising the inorganic salt; immersing a separator in the inorganic melt admixture; and drying the immersed separator.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic salt comprises at least two nitrogen-oxide compounds.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic salt comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of lithium nitrate (LiNO 3 ), potassium nitrate (KNO 3 ), potassium nitrite (KNO 2 ), cesium nitrate (CsNO 3 ), sodium nitrate (NaNO 3 ), and calcium nitrate (Ca(NO 3 ) 2 ).

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic salt comprises two types of nitrogen-oxide compounds, three types of nitrogen-oxide compounds, four types of nitrogen-oxide compounds, or five types of nitrogen-oxide compounds.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the two types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise lithium nitrate and potassium nitrate,
the three types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise lithium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate; comprise lithium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium nitrate; or comprise lithium nitrate, potassium nitrite and cesium nitrate, the four types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise lithium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate, and the five types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise lithium nitrate, potassium nitrate, cesium nitrate, sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic salt comprises:
the three types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprising lithium nitrate, potassium nitrite and cesium nitrate, the four types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprising lithium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate, or the five types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprising lithium nitrate, potassium nitrate, cesium nitrate, sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the three types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise an amount of about 29 mol % to 35 mol % of lithium nitrate, an amount of about 51 mol % to 56 mol % of potassium nitrite and an amount of about 10 mol % to 15 mol % of cesium nitrate,
the four types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise an amount of about 27 mol % to 31 mol % of lithium nitrate, an amount of about 38 mol % to 50 mol % of potassium nitrate, an amount of about 11 mol % to 20 mol % of sodium nitrate and an amount of about 10 mol % to 13 mol % of calcium nitrate, and the five types of the nitrogen-oxide compounds comprise an amount of about 14 mol % to 17 mol % of lithium nitrate, an amount of about 29 mol % to 31 mol % of potassium nitrate, an amount of about 28 mol % to 32 mol % of cesium nitrate, an amount of about 9 mol % to 11 mol % of sodium nitrate and an amount of about 13 mol % to 18 mol % of calcium nitrate, all the mol % based on the total mole of the nitrogen-oxide compounds.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic salt has a eutectic point of about 130° C. or less.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the inorganic salt has a eutectic point of about 100° C. or less.

10 . An electrolyte membrane for a lithium-air battery manufactured by a method of claim 1 .

11 . A method of manufacturing a cathode for a lithium-air battery, comprising:
preparing a metal precursor admixture comprising a metal precursor; preparing an electrode slurry comprising the metal precursor admixture and a carbon material; applying the electrode slurry on a substrate; and reducing a metal ion by applying current to the applied electrode slurry.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the metal precursor comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of platinum (Pt), rubidium (Ru), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and silver (Ag).

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the carbon material comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of natural graphite, artificial graphite, carbon nanotubes, reduced graphene oxide (rGO), carbon fiber, carbon black, Ketjen black, acetylene black, mesoporous carbon, graphite, Denka black, fullerene, and activated carbon.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the electrode slurry comprises the metal precursor in an amount of about 40 parts by weight to 60 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the carbon material.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the current is applied for about 0.1 sec to 60 sec.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein a magnitude of the current is about 6 A to 10 A.

17 . A cathode for a lithium-air battery manufactured by a method of claim 11 .

18 . A lithium-air battery, comprising:
a cathode comprising a carbon material; an anode disposed to face the cathode and comprising a lithium metal that receives and releases a lithium ion; and an electrolyte membrane of claim 10 , interposed between the cathode and the anode.

19 . The lithium-air battery of claim 18 , wherein the carbon material comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of natural graphite, artificial graphite, carbon nanotubes, reduced graphene oxide (rGO), carbon fiber, carbon black, Ketjen black, acetylene black, mesoporous carbon, graphite, Denka black, fullerene, and activated carbon.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp
• Ulsan National Institute Of Science And Tech

Inventors

• Kwon Eun Ji
• Seo Samuel
• Oh Gwang Seok
• Kang Seok Ju
• Baek Kyung Eun

Classifications

• Y02P70/50

  Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M12/08 Primary

  composed of a half-cell of a fuel-cell type and a half-cell of the secondary-cell type · CPC title

• H01M10/058

  Construction or manufacture · CPC title

• H01M10/0562 Primary

  Solid materials · CPC title