Jagged electrochemically-active composite particles for lithium-ion batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024405198-A1
Application number	US-202318398718-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 28, 2023
Priority date	Dec 29, 2022
Publication date	Dec 5, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A battery electrode composition includes a population of jagged composite particles, in which each of the jagged composite particles includes silicon and carbon. In some embodiments, 90% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of 2.3 or less and 50% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of 1.25 or more. In some embodiments, the population is characterized by a particle size distribution (PSD) as determined by laser particle size distribution analysis (LPSA) and a fiftieth-percentile volume-weighted particle size parameter D 50 of the PSD is in a range of about 2.0 to about 17.0 μm.

First claim

1 . A battery electrode composition, comprising:
a population of jagged composite particles, each of the jagged composite particles comprising silicon and carbon; wherein: about 90% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of about 2.3 or less; about 50% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of about 1.25 or more; and the population is characterized by a particle size distribution (PSD) as determined by laser particle size distribution analysis (LPSA) such that: a fiftieth-percentile volume-weighted particle size parameter (D 50 ) of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 2.0 to about 17.0 μm.

2 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
about 90% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of about 2.1 or less.

3 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
about 50% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of about 1.35 or more.

4 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
about 10% or more of the jagged composite particles in the population are characterized by aspect ratios of about 1.3 or less.

5 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
a mass fraction of the silicon in the jagged composite particles is in a range of about 3 wt. % to about 80 wt. %.

6 . The battery electrode composition of claim 5 , wherein:
the mass fraction of the silicon is in a range of about 33 wt. % to about 60 wt. %.

7 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area (SSA) of the population is in a range of about 1 m 2 /g to about 18 m 2 /g.

8 . The battery electrode composition of claim 7 , wherein:
the BET-SSA is in a range of about 1 m 2 /g to about 10 m 2 /g.

9 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
the D 50 is in a range of about 2.0 to about 8.0 μm.

10 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
the D 50 is in a range of about 6.0 to about 17.0 μm.

11 . The battery electrode composition of claim 10 , wherein:
the D 50 is in a range of about 6.0 to about 9.0 μm.

12 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
a span of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 0.3 to about 1.8.

13 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
a tenth-percentile volume-weighted particle size parameter (D 10 ) of the PSD of the population is at least about 1.0 μm; and a value of the D 10 of the PSD of the population divided by the D 50 of the PSD of the population is in a range of 35% to 75%.

14 . The battery electrode composition of claim 1 , wherein:
the battery electrode composition comprises a blended mixture of the jagged composite particles and graphite particles; and a mass fraction of the jagged composite particles in the battery electrode composition, excluding any binder, is in a range of about 10 wt. % to about 70 wt. %, or a mass fraction of the graphite particles in the battery electrode composition, excluding any binder, is in a range of about 30 wt. % to about 90 wt. %, or a combination thereof.

15 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
the D 50 of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 6.0 to about 12.0 μm.

16 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
a tenth-percentile volume-weighted particle size parameter (D 10 ) of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 1.0 to about 4.0 μm.

17 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
a ninetieth-percentile volume-weighted particle size parameter (D 90 ) of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 7.0 to about 25.0 μm.

18 . The battery electrode composition of claim 17 , wherein
the D 90 is in a range of about 12.0 to about 20.0 μm.

19 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
a ninety-ninth-percentile volume-weighted particle size parameter (D 99 ) of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 15.0 to about 28.0 μm.

20 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
a span of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 0.6 to about 2.1.

21 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area (SSA) of the population is in a range of about 1 m 2 /g to about 10 m 2 /g.

22 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein
the jagged composite particles exhibit a specific first cycle lithiation capacity in the range of about 1600 mAh/g to about 2200 mAh/g.

23 . The battery electrode composition of claim 14 , wherein a specific capacity of the blended mixture is in a range of about 600 mAh/g to about 1200 mAh/g when normalized by a mass of the blended mixture.

24 . A battery electrode, comprising:
the battery electrode composition of claim 1 disposed on and/or in a current collector, wherein: the battery electrode comprises a binder.

25 . The battery electrode of claim 24 , wherein:
a coating density of the battery electrode is in a range of about 0.9 to about 1.7 g/cm 3 .

26 . The battery electrode of claim 24 , further comprising:
a carbon-comprising functional additive.

27 . The battery electrode of claim 26 , wherein the carbon-comprising functional additive is selected from: single-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, carbon black, exfoliated graphite, graphene oxide, and graphene.

28 . The battery electrode of claim 27 , wherein a mass fraction of the carbon-comprising functional additive in the battery electrode is about 1 wt. % or less.

29 . The battery electrode of claim 24 , wherein:
the D 50 of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 6.0 to about 8.0 μm; and a mass fraction of the binder in the battery electrode is in a range of about 7 wt. % to about 10 wt. %.

30 . The battery electrode of claim 24 , wherein:
the D 50 of the PSD of the population is in a range of about 6.0 to about 8.0 μm; and an areal binder loading of the battery electrode is in a range of about 9.0 mg/m 2 to about 13.0 mg/m 2 , the areal binder loading being defined as a mass fraction of the binder in the battery electrode, divided by a product of (1) a mass fraction of the jagged composite particles in the battery electrode, and (2) a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area of the population.

31 . A lithium-ion battery, comprising:
an anode current collector; a cathode current collector; the battery electrode of claim 24 configured as an anode, the current collector thereof being configured as the anode current collector; a cathode disposed on or in the cathode current collector; and an electrolyte ionically coupling the anode and the cathode.

32 . A method of making a battery electrode, the method comprising:
(A1) providing the battery electrode composition of claim 1 ; (A2) making a slurry comprising the battery electrode composition and a binder; and (A3) casting the slurry on and/or in a current collector to form the battery electrode.

33 . A method of maki

Assignees

• Sila Nanotechnologies Inc

Inventors

• Sanchez Joel
• Rodríguez Pérez Ismael
• Wang Weimin
• Mcgann Christopher Leland
• Yushin Gleb Nikolayevich
• Tannaci John Frederick

Classifications

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M2004/027

  Negative electrodes · CPC title

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title

• H01M4/1395

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

• H01M4/1393

  of electrodes based on carbonaceous material, e.g. graphite-intercalation compounds or CFx · CPC title