Lithium ion battery separators and electrodes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9865854-B2
Application number	US-201414492340-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 22, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2013
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

A lithium ion battery separator includes a porous film of a polymeric chelating agent. The polymeric chelating agent includes a poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle), where the macrocycle is a chelating agent. A positive electrode includes a structure and a coating formed on a surface of the structure. The structure includes a lithium transition metal based active material, a binder, and a conductive carbon; and the coating includes a poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle), where the macrocycle is a chelating agent. The separator and/or positive electrode are suitable for use in a lithium ion battery.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lithium ion battery separator, comprising:
a microporous film of a polymeric chelating agent, the polymeric chelating agent including a poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle), wherein the poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle) includes a polymer backbone, a first functional group including an amide or an ester, and a macrocycle that is a chelating agent.

2. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 1 wherein the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of a crown ether, a crown ether having at least one ether oxygen substituted with a heteroatom, a podand, a lariat ether, a calixarene, a calixcrown, or combinations thereof.

3. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 1 wherein the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of

[2.2N.2N]cryptand, and combinations thereof.

4. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a porous polymer membrane, wherein the porous film is a coating on a surface of the porous polymer membrane.

5. A lithium ion battery, comprising:
a positive electrode;
a negative electrode;
a microporous polymer separator soaked in an electrolyte solution, the microporous polymer separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and
a polymeric chelating agent including a poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle) wherein:
the poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle) includes a polymer backbone, a first functional group including an ester or an amide, and a macrocycle that
is a chelating agent; and
the polymeric chelating agent is i) deposited onto a surface of the positive electrode, or ii) incorporated as the microporous polymer separator, or iii) deposited onto a surface of a porous polymer membrane to form the microporous polymer separator.

6. The lithium ion battery as defined in claim 5 wherein the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of a crown ether, a crown ether having at least one ether oxygen substituted with a heteroatom, a podand, a lariat ether, a calixarene, a calixcrown, or combinations thereof.

7. The lithium ion battery as defined in claim 5 wherein the poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle) is deposited onto the surface of the porous polymer membrane, and wherein the porous polymer membrane is selected from the group consisting of a porous polypropylene membrane, a porous polyethylene membrane, and an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane.

8. The lithium ion battery as defined in claim 5 wherein the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of

[2.2N.2N]cryptand, and combinations thereof.

9. A method of forming a polymeric chelating agent for a lithium ion battery, the method comprising:
polymerizing trimethylsilyl undecylenate via Ziegler-Natta polymerization in the presence of a Ziegler-Natta catalyst to form poly(undecylenic acid); and
functionalizing the polyundecylenic acid with a chelating agent by:
reacting the polyundecylenic acid with thionyl chloride and pyridine to form poly(undecylenoyl chloride);
forming a reaction mixture of the poly(undecylenoyl chloride) and a chelating agent precursor in salt form; and
exposing the reaction mixture to an aqueous base to hydrolyze any unreacted chloride groups of poly(undecylenoyl chloride);

whereby the functionalization process attaches the chelating agent, through any of ester and amide groups, to the poly(undecylenoyl chloride) to form a poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle) that includes a polymer backbone, a first functional group including an amide or an ester, and a macrocycle that is a chelating agent, wherein the poly(undecylenyl-macrocycle) forms a microporous film.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein:
the polymerizing step forms a poly(undecylenic acid) olefin copolymer; and
the polymerization step involves the trimethylsilyl undecylenate and an other olefin.

11. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein prior to the reacting steps, the method further comprises converting the polyundecylenic acid into a porous film using melt processing.

12. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein after the reacting steps, the method further comprises converting the polymeric chelating agent into a porous film using melt processing.

13. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein the aqueous base is lithium hydroxide.

14. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 1 wherein the first functional group links the macrocycle to the polymer backbone.

15. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 1 wherein:
the undecylenyl-macrocycle further includes a second functional group;
the second functional group includes an alkyl, an ester, an amide, an ether, or an isocyanate; and
the second functional group links the macrocycle to the polymer backbone.

16. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 5 wherein the first functional group links the macrocycle to the polymer backbone.

17. The lithium ion battery separator as defined in claim 5 wherein:
the undecylenyl-macrocycle further includes a second functional group;
the second functional group includes an alkyl, an ester, an amide, an ether, or an isocyanate; and
the second functional group links the macrocycle to the polymer backbone.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Fuller Timothy J
• Halalay Ion C
• Mitchell James
• Zou Lijun

Classifications

• H01M4/131 Primary

  Electrodes based on mixed oxides or hydroxides, or on mixtures of oxides or hydroxides, e.g. LiCoOx · CPC title

• H01M50/454

  comprising a non-fibrous layer and a fibrous layer superimposed on one another · CPC title

• H01M50/414

  Synthetic resins, e.g. thermoplastics or thermosetting resins · CPC title

• H01M2004/028

  Positive electrodes · CPC title

• H01M2/1653 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic