Granted Patent B2

US 12,191,501 · App. 18/170,080 · Granted Jan 7, 2025

Inventors: John C. Brewer (Rochester, NY); Paul D. Garman (Pittsford, NY); Kevin Tanzil (Rochester, NY)

Assignee: Graphenix Development, Inc.

H01M4/667H01M4/0428H01M4/366H01M4/48H01M4/5815H01M10/0525H01M10/0565H01M10/0568H01M10/0569H01M2300/0028H01M2300/0082H01M2300/0085

Abstract

Claims (23)

1. A method of making an anode for use in an energy storage device, the method comprising:

providing a current collector comprising an electrically conductive layer and a surface layer overlaying over the electrically conductive layer, wherein the surface layer has an average thickness of at least 0.002 μm and comprises a metal chalcogenide comprising at least one of sulfur or selenium; and

depositing a continuous porous lithium storage layer onto the surface layer by a PECVD process, wherein the continuous porous lithium storage layer:

has an average thickness in a range of 4 μm to 30 μm,

comprises at least 85 atomic % amorphous silicon, and

is substantially free of high aspect ratio nanostructures.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the continuous porous lithium storage layer has a density in a range of 1.1 g/cm 3 to 2.2 g/cm 3 .

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the continuous porous lithium storage layer comprises less than 2 atomic % carbon.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal chalcogenide comprises a transition metal sulfide or transition metal polysulfide.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the transition metal is copper.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive layer comprises stainless steel, nickel, copper, titanium, or conductive carbon.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming the surface layer by treating the electrically conductive layer with a solution comprising at least one of a polysulfide salt, a thiosulfate salt, or a polyselenide salt.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising heating the electrically conductive layer to a temperature in a range of 100° C. to 350° C. after treating the electrically conductive layer with the solution.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming the surface layer by depositing a metal sulfide, a metal polysulfide, a metal selenide, or a metal polyselenide onto the electrically conductive layer by a PVD process, a CVD process, or an ALD process.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface layer further comprises a metal oxide.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising forming a first surface sublayer comprising the metal chalcogenide and depositing the metal oxide as a second surface sublayer disposed over the first surface sublayer.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metal oxide is deposited by a PVD process, a CVD process, or an ALD process.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising depositing a supplemental layer over the continuous porous lithium storage layer, wherein the supplemental layer comprises a metal compound deposited by a process comprising ALD, CVD, sputtering, thermal evaporation, electrochemical deposition, or electroless deposition.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the supplemental layer comprises a lithium-containing material, a metal oxide, a metal nitride, or a metalcone.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after depositing the continuous porous lithium storage layer, thermally treating the anode at a temperature in a range of 100° C. to 450° C. for a thermal treatment time in a range of 0.1 to 60 minutes.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface layer has an average thickness in a range of 0.01 μm to 1.0 μm.

17. A lithium-ion battery comprising the anode made according to claim 1 , a liquid electrolyte, a cathode, and a current separator disposed between the anode and the cathode.

18. The lithium-ion battery of claim 17 , wherein the cathode comprises sulfur, selenium, or both sulfur and selenium.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (12)