Process for prelithiating an anode active material for a lithium battery

1. A process for producing prelithiated particles of an anode active material for a lithium battery, said process comprising:

a) providing a lithiating chamber having at least one inlet and at least one outlet;

b) feeding a plurality of particles of an anode active material, lithium metal particles, and an electrolyte solution containing a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent, concurrently or sequentially, into said lithiating chamber through said at least one inlet to form a reacting mixture;

c) moving said reacting mixture toward said at least one outlet at a rate sufficient for inserting a desired amount of lithium into said anode active material particles to form a slurry of prelithiated particles dispersed in said electrolyte solution; and

d) discharging said slurry out of said lithiating chamber through said at least one outlet;

wherein said process further comprises feeding a solution of a lithium salt or sodium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent into said lithiating chamber, before said slurry is discharged, to form a multi-component slurry, which is discharged from said lithiating chamber and introduced into an encapsulating device that encapsulates said prelithiated particles with a surface-stabilizing layer of lithium- or sodium-containing species.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said prelithiated particles contains an amount of lithium from 1% to 100% of a maximum lithium content contained in said anode active material.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein said slurry is discharged into a receptor container.

4. The process of claim 1 , further comprising a step of treating said discharged slurry for separating and recovering said prelithiated particles from said electrolyte solution.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein said lithiating chamber contains one or two rotating screws that drive the reacting mixture toward said at least one outlet.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein said step (b) of feeding, step (c) of moving, and step (d) of discharging are conducted in a continuous manner.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein said particles of anode active material are selected from the group consisting of: (a) silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and cadmium (Cd); (b) alloys or intermetallic compounds of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Ni, Co, or Cd with other elements; (c) oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, and tellurides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Co, V, or Cd, and their mixtures, composites, or lithium-containing composites; (d) salts and hydroxides of Sn; (e) lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide, ZnCo 2 O 4 ; (f) particles of graphite and carbon; and (g) combinations thereof.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein said anode active material comprises silicon and said prelithiated particles are selected from Li x Si, wherein numerical x is from 0.01 to 4.4.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein said anode active material comprises silicon and said prelithiated particles comprise a prelithiated silicon Li x Si, wherein numerical x is from 0.05 to 4.4.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein said anode active material comprises a doped semiconductor material selected from Si or Ge doped with n-type and/or p-type dopants.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein said anode active material particles are coated with a thin layer of carbon, graphene, electron-conducting polymer, or ion-conducting polymer having a thickness from 0.5 nm to 1 μm.

12. The process of claim 11 , wherein said thin layer of carbon is obtained from pyrolization of a polymer, pitch, or organic precursor or obtained by chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, or sputtering.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein said anode active material particles are in a form of nanoparticle, nanowire, nanofiber, nanotube, nanosheet, nanobelt, nanoribbon, nanodisc, nanoplatelet, or nanohorn having a thickness or diameter from 0.5 nm to 100 nm.

14. The process of claim 1 , wherein said anode active material particles contain a sub-micron or micron particle having a diameter or thickness from 100 nm to 30 μm.

15. A process for producing prelithiated particles of an anode active material for a lithium battery, said process comprising:

a) providing a lithiating chamber having at least one inlet and at least one outlet;

b) feeding a plurality of particles of an anode active material, lithium metal particles, and an electrolyte solution containing a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent, concurrently or sequentially, into said lithiating chamber through said at least one inlet to form a reacting mixture;

c) moving said reacting mixture toward said at least one outlet at a rate sufficient for inserting a desired amount of lithium into said anode active material particles to form a slurry of prelithiated particles dispersed in said electrolyte solution;

d) feeding a solution of a lithium salt or sodium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent into said lithiating chamber to form a multi-component slurry; and

e) said slurry is discharged from said lithiating chamber through at least one outlet and introduced into an encapsulating device that encapsulates said prelithiated particles with a surface-stabilizing layer of lithium- or sodium-containing species.

16. The process of claim 15 , wherein said encapsulating device is selected from a spray dryer, a pan-coating device, an air-suspension coating device, a centrifugal extrusion device, or a vibration nozzle.

17. The process of claim 15 , wherein said surface-stabilizing layer comprises a lithium- or sodium-containing species chemically bonded to said particles and said lithium- or sodium-containing species is selected from Li 2 CO 3 , Li 2 O, Li 2 C 2 O 4 , LiOH, LiX, ROCO 2 Li, HCOLi, ROLi, (ROCO 2 Li) 2 , (CH 2 OCO 2 Li) 2 , Li 2 S, Li x SO y , Li 4 B, Na 4 B, Na 2 CO 3 , Na 2 O, Na 2 C 2 O 4 , NaOH, NaX, ROCO 2 Na, HCONa, RONa, (ROCO 2 Na) 2 , (CH 2 OCO 2 Na) 2 , Na 2 S, Na x SO y , or a combination thereof, wherein X═F, Cl, I, or Br, R=a hydrocarbon group, 0<x≤1, and 1≤y≤4.

18. A process for producing prelithiated particles of an anode active material for a lithium battery, said process comprising:

e) providing a lithiating chamber having at least one inlet and at least one outlet;

f) feeding a plurality of particles of an anode active material, lithium metal particles, and an electrolyte solution containing a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent, concurrently or sequentially, into said lithiating chamber through said at least one inlet to form a reacting mixture;

g) moving said reacting mixture toward said at least one outlet at a rate sufficient for inserting a desired amount of lithium into said anode active material particles to form a slurry of prelithiated particles dispersed in said electrolyte solution; and

h) discharging said slurry out of said lithiating chamber through said at least one outlet;

wherein said process further comprises feeding a solution of a polymer or monomer into said lithiating chamber to form a multi-component slurry, which is discharged from said lithiating chamber and introduced into an encapsulating device that encapsulates said prelithiated particles with a protective polymer layer.

19. The process of claim 18 , wherein said encapsulating device is selected from a spray dryer, a pan-coating device, an air-suspension coating device, a centrifugal extrusion device, or a vibration nozzle.

20. The process of claim 18 , wherein said protective polymer layer comprises a high-elasticity polymer encapsulating said prelithiated particles and wherein said high-elasticity polymer has a fully recoverable tensile strain from 5% to 700%, a thickness from 0.5 nm to 2 μm, and a lithium ion conductivity from 10 −7 S/cm to 5×10 −2 S/cm at room temperature.

21. The process of claim 18 , wherein said high-elasticity polymer has a fully recoverable tensile strain from 10% to 300%, a thickness from 1 nm to 0.5 μm, and a lithium ion conductivity from 10 −6 S/cm to 5×10 −2 S/cm at room temperature.

22. The process of claim 18 , wherein said high-elasticity polymer contains an elastomer selected from natural polyisoprene, synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, perfluoroelastomers, polyether block amides, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, thermoplastic elastomer, protein resilin, protein elastin, ethylene oxide-epichlorohydrin copolymer, polyurethane, urethane-urea copolymer, or a combination thereof.

23. The process of claim 18 , wherein said high-elasticity polymer contains an elastomer matrix composite containing a lithium ion-conducting additive dispersed in an elastomer matrix material, wherein said lithium ion-conducting additive is selected from Li 2 CO 3 , Li 2 O, Li 2 C 2 O 4 , LiOH, LiX, ROCO 2 Li, HCOLi, ROLi, (ROCO 2 Li) 2 , (CH 2 OCO 2 Li) 2 , Li 2 S, Li x SO y , or a combination thereof, wherein X═F, Cl, I, or Br, R=a hydrocarbon group, 0<x≤1, and 1≤y≤4.

24. The process of claim 18 , wherein said high-elasticity polymer contains an elastomer matrix composite containing a lithium ion-conducting additive dispersed in an elastomer matrix material, wherein said lithium ion-conducting additive contains a lithium salt selected from lithium perchlorate, LiClO 4 , lithium hexafluorophosphate, LiPF 6 , lithium borofluoride, LiBF 4 , lithium hexafluoroarsenide, LiAsF 6 , lithium trifluoro-metasulfonate, LiCF 3 SO 3 , bis-trifluoromethyl sulfonylimide lithium, LiN(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 , lithium bis(oxalato)borate, LiBOB, lithium oxalyldifluoroborate, LiBF 2 C 2 O 4 , lithium oxalyldifluoroborate, LiBF 2 C 2 O 4 , lithium nitrate, LiNO 3 , Li-Fluoroalkyl-Phosphates, LiPF 3 (CF 2 CF 3 ) 3 , lithium bisperfluoro-ethysulfonylimide, LiBETI, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide, lithium bis(fluorosulphonyl)imide, lithium trifluoromethanesulfonimide, LiTFSI, an ionic liquid-based lithium salt, or a combination thereof.

25. The process of claim 18 , wherein said high-elasticity polymer contains a mixture or blend of an elastomer and an electron-conducting polymer selected from polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyfuran, a bi-cyclic polymer, a sulfonated derivative thereof, or a combination thereof.

26. The process of claim 18 , wherein said high-elasticity polymer contains a mixture or blend of an elastomer and a lithium ion-conducting polymer selected from poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), Polypropylene oxide (PPO), poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF), Poly bis-methoxy ethoxyethoxide-phosphazenex, Polyvinyl chloride, Polydimethylsiloxane, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP), a sulfonated derivative thereof, or a combination thereof.