Coating of Electrode Materials for Energy Storage Devices
Cathode materials, batteries, and methods of forming one or more electrodes for batteries are disclosed. In some embodiments, a coated lithium battery cathode material includes coated single crystalline primary particles, the coated single crystalline primary particles including single crystalline primary particles of a lithium transition metal oxide, a first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating on the single crystalline primary particles wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide is less than 1 nm thick, and a carbon coating disposed on the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating to form coated single crystalline primary particles.
1 . A coated lithium battery cathode material, comprising:
coated single crystalline primary particles, comprising:
single crystalline primary particles of a lithium transition metal oxide;
a first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating on the single crystalline primary particles wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide is less than 1 nm thick; and
a carbon coating disposed on the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating.
2 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 , wherein the lithium transition metal oxide comprises:
Li 1+a Ni x Co y Mn z Al 1−x−y−z O 2 , wherein 0.0<=a<=1.0, 0.5<=x<=1.0, 0.0<=y<=0.1, 0.0<=z<=0.1, and further wherein the lithium transition metal oxide material has less than 0.05 mol of impurities and other elements and less than 5 percent by weight of residual lithium compounds on the surface.
3 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 ,
wherein the lithium transition metal oxide comprises:
LiFe x Mn 1−x PO 4 , wherein 0.0<=x<=1.0, and further wherein the lithium transition metal oxide material has less than 0.05 mol of impurities and other elements.
4 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 , further comprising:
secondary particles of the coated single crystalline primary particles, wherein the coated lithium battery cathode material comprises a combination of the coated crystalline primary particles and the secondary particles.
5 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 , wherein the carbon coating comprises:
one or more carbonaceous materials, and wherein the carbonaceous materials include one or more of amorphous carbon, conductive carbon, conductive graphite, hard carbon, soft carbon, carbon nanotubes, and graphene.
6 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 , wherein:
the lithium battery cathode material further comprises at least one of a conductive polymer or additive.
7 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 6 , wherein the conductive polymer comprises one or more of polypyrrole, polyaniline, and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polymer, and wherein the additive comprises one or more of carbon nanotubes, graphene, conductive carbon, Cu, Ag, Au, Pt, and Os.
8 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 , wherein the first sub-nanoscale metal oxide coating comprises one or more metals selected from the group consisting of: Al, Ti, Co, Ni, Cu, Si, Ge, Se, Zr, Nb, W, Sn, Ga, Li, Mg, Sr, Ba, Fe, Hf, Ru, Ta, V, and Y.
9 . The coated lithium battery cathode material of claim 1 , wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating forms Li-metal-oxide coatings without adding additional Li source during the coating process and wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating comprises one or more metals selected from the group consisting of: Al, Ti, Co, Ni, Cu, Si, Ge, Se, Zr, Nb, W, Sn, Ga, Li, Mg, Sr, Ba, Fe, Hf, Ru, Ta, V, Y.
10 . A method of forming a coated lithium battery cathode material, the method comprising:
coating single crystalline primary particles of a lithium transition metal oxide with a first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating; and
coating the single crystalline primary particles with a carbon coating, the carbon coating disposed on the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating, to form coated single crystalline primary particles;
wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating is less than 1 nm thick.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the lithium transition metal oxide comprises:
Li 1+a Ni x Co y Mn z Al 1−x−y−z O 2 , wherein 0.0<=a<=1.0, 0.5<=x<=1.0, 0.0<=y<=0.1, 0.0<=z<=0.1, and further wherein the lithium transition metal oxide material has less than 0.05 mol of impurities and other elements and less than 5 percent by weight of residual lithium compounds on the surface.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the lithium transition metal oxide comprises:
LiFe x Mn 1−x PO 4 , wherein 0.0<=x<=1.0, and further wherein the lithium transition metal oxide material has less than 0.05 mol of impurities and other elements and less than 5 percent by weight of residual lithium compounds on the surface.
13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprises:
agglomerating the coated single crystalline primary particles to form secondary particles, wherein the lithium battery cathode material comprises a combination of the coated single crystalline primary particles and the secondary particles.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein
coating the cathode material with a first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating comprises performing a first hydrothermal method to coat the cathode material with the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating; and
coating the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating with a carbon coating comprises performing a second hydrothermal method to coat the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating with the carbon coating.
15 . The method of claim 14 , where in the carbon coating comprises:
one or more carbonaceous materials, and wherein the carbonaceous materials include one or more of amorphous carbon, conductive carbon, conductive graphite, hard carbon, soft carbon, carbon nanotubes, and graphene.
16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
coating the lithium battery cathode material with at least one of a conductive polymer or additive.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein coating the lithium battery cathode material with the at least one of the conductive polymer or additive comprises one or more of solution mixing, vacuum filtration, cross-linking, and vacuum drying.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the conductive polymer comprises one or more of polypyrrole, polyaniline, and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polymer, and wherein the additive comprises one or more of carbon nanotubes, graphene, conductive carbon, Cu, Ag, Au, Pt, and Os.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein coating the cathode material with at least one of a conductive polymer or additive coating comprises:
dissolving a surfactant into a solvent by stirring for 10 min to 1 hours, dependent on the solubility at a temperature of between 10° C. and 50° C.;
mixing the at least one of the conductive polymer or additive into a solution for 1 to 24 hours at a temperature between 50° C. and 120° C.;
drying in a vacuum at a temperature of between 80° C. and 200° C. for 6 to 24 hours; and
collecting the coated powder by using filtration.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the surfactant comprises one or more of sodium dodecyl sulfonate, benalkonium chloride, cocamidopropyl betain, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinylidene fluoride, cetyl alcohol, polytetrafluoroethylene, ethyl cellulose, nitrocellulose, and carboxymethyl cellulose.
21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the solvent comprises one or more of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, and ethyl-methyl carbonate.
22 . A coated lithium battery cathode material, comprising:
coated single crystalline primary particles, comprising:
single crystalline primary particles of a lithium transition metal oxide;
a first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating on the single crystalline primary particles wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide is less than 1 nm thick; and
a carbon coating disposed on the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating,
wherein the lithium transition metal oxide comprises:
Li 1+a Mn x Ni y Co 1−x−y O 2 , wherein 0.0<=a<=1.0, 0.5<=x<=1.0, 0.0<=y<=0.5, and further wherein the lithium transition metal oxide material has less than 0.05 mol of impurities and other elements.
23 . A method of forming a coated lithium battery cathode material, the method comprising:
coating single crystalline primary particles of a lithium transition metal oxide with a first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating; and
coating the single crystalline primary particles with a carbon coating, the carbon coating disposed on the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating, to form coated single crystalline primary particles;
wherein the first sub-nanoscale lithium metal oxide coating is less than 1 nm thick, and wherein the lithium transition metal oxide comprises:
Li 1+a Mn x Ni y Co 1−x−y O 2 , wherein 0.0<=a<=1.0, 0.5<=x<=1.0, 0.0<=y<=0.5, and further wherein the lithium transition metal oxide material has less than 0.05 mol of impurities and other elements.