System and methods for a cathode active material for a lithium ion battery cell
View Patent ↗A material includes a first lithium metal oxide (LMO) component formed using a spray-dry technique and a second LMO component formed using a co-precipitation technique. In particular, the LMO components may include lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC). The material may further include a binder and a conductive component.
1. A lithium ion battery cell, comprising:
a cathode comprising an active material, wherein the active material comprises both a spray-dried lithium metal oxide (LMO) component and a co-precipitated LMO component, wherein the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components are both lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) materials having the formula LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 .
2. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the active material has a surface area between approximately 0.4 square meter per gram (m 2 /g) and approximately 1.2 m 2 /g.
3. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components provide greater power retention together than the spray-dried LMO component or the co-precipitated LMO component alone.
4. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components provide less cycle fade together than the spray-dried LMO component alone.
5. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components provide a greater power output together than the co-precipitated LMO component alone.
6. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the lithium ion battery cell comprises a cylindrical, prismatic, or pouch lithium ion battery cell.
7. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the active material comprises at least 25% spray-dried LMO component by weight.
8. The battery cell of claim 1 , wherein the active material comprises the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components in approximately equal parts.
9. A method of making a cathode of a battery cell, comprising:
mixing a spray-dried lithium metal oxide (LMO) component and a co-precipitated LMO component, wherein the spray-dried the co-precipitated LMO components are both lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) materials having the formula LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 ; and
binding the mixed spray-dried and co-precipitated components to a metallic surface.
10. The method of claim 9 , comprising forming the spray-dried LMO component using a spray-dry technique and forming the co-precipitated LMO component using a co-precipitation technique.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the mixed spray-dried and co-Precipitated components comprise at least 25% co-precipitated LMO component by weight.
12. The method of claim 9 , comprising forming a slurry comprising approximately 95 wt% of the mixed spray-dried and co-precipitated components, 3 wt % conductive carbon, and 2 wt % of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) binder.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein binding the mixed spray-dried and co-precipitated components to the metallic surface comprises casting the slurry on the metallic surface and then drying the metallic surface.
14. The method of claim 9 , comprising calendaring the metallic surface, folding, and pressing the metallic surface to a desired thickness and density to form the cathode of the battery cell.
15. The method of claim 9 , comprising forming the battery cell by stacking the metallic surface with a polymer separator and a negative electrode, disposing the stack within a housing, filling the housing with an electrolyte, and vacuum-sealing the housing.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the battery cell is configured to provide one or more of: greater power retention, greater power output, and less cycle fade than another battery cell with only the first or the second LMO component.
17. A material, comprising:
a mixture of a spray-dried lithium metal oxide (LMO) component and a co-precipitated LMO component, wherein the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components are both lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) materials having the formula LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 .
18. The material of claim 17 , wherein the material comprises about a 1:1 mixture of the spray-dried and the co-precipitated LMO components.
19. The material of claim 17 , wherein the material comprises a binder and a conductive component.
20. The material of claim 19 , wherein the material comprises 2 wt % binder and 3 wt % conductive component.
21. The material of claim 19 , wherein the binder comprises polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and the conductive component comprises conductive carbon.