IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,424,616
Granted Patent B2
US 12,424,616 · App. 18/759,452 · Granted Sep 23, 2025

Electroactive materials for metal-ion batteries

Inventors: Timothy Bogart (Oxfordshire, GB); Simon Foxon (Oxfordshire, GB); James Farrell (Oxfordshire, GB); David Bent (Oxfordshire, GB); Daniel Scarlett (Oxfordshire, GB)
Assignee: Nexeon Limited
H01M4/362C01B33/02C04B35/532C04B35/6261C04B35/6264C04B35/62839C04B35/64H01M4/386H01M4/625C01P2004/51C01P2004/62C01P2004/64C01P2006/12C01P2006/40C04B2235/422C04B2235/428C04B2235/5445C04B2235/5454H01M2004/027
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,424,616
App. No.
18/759,452
Granted
Sep 23, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

This invention relates to particulate electroactive materials consisting of a plurality of composite particles, wherein the composite particles comprise a plurality of silicon nanoparticles dispersed within a conductive carbon matrix. The particulate material comprises 40 to 65 wt % silicon, at least 6 wt % and less than 20% oxygen, and has a weight ratio of the total amount of oxygen and nitrogen to silicon in the range of from 0.1 to 0.45 and a weight ratio of carbon to silicon in the range of from 0.1 to 1. The particulate electroactive materials are useful as an active component of an anode in a metal ion battery.

Claims (31)

1. Composite particles comprising silicon nanoparticles dispersed within a conductive carbon matrix, wherein the composite particles:

(i) have a D 50 particle diameter of no more than 25 μm,

(ii) have a particle size distribution span ((D 90 -D 10 )/D 50 ) of 5 or less,

(iii) have a weight ratio of a total amount of oxygen and nitrogen to silicon of no more than 0.42,

(iv) have a weight ratio of carbon to silicon of at least 0.2,

(v) comprise less than 18 wt % oxygen, and

(vi) comprise pores having a diameter of less than 2 nm distributed throughout their volume.

2. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the silicon nanoparticles comprise a nanoparticle core and a nanoparticle surface, wherein the nanoparticle surface comprises a compound of oxygen or a compound of nitrogen or a mixture thereof.

3. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles comprise 40 to 65 wt % silicon.

4. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles have a D 99 particle diameter of no more than 50 μm.

5. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the silicon nanoparticles have a D 50 particle diameter of no more than 120 nm.

6. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the surface of the silicon nanoparticles comprises silicon oxide.

7. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles have an intra-particle porosity of no more than 30%, as determined by mercury porosimetry.

8. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles have a BET surface area of no more than 100 m 2/ g.

9. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles have a BET surface area of no more than 30 m 2/ g.

10. The composite particles according to claim 9 , wherein the composite particles comprise a carbon coating.

11. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles have a specific charge capacity on first lithiation of at least 1200 mAh/g.

12. The composite particles according to claim 1 , comprising from 0.1 to 8 wt % of one or more elements selected from aluminum, iron, copper, gallium, magnesium, calcium, titanium and zirconium with balance of the material being silicon, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.

13. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the particulate material comprises at least 80 wt % in total of silicon, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.

14. The composite particles according to claim 13 , wherein the composite particles comprise at least 98 wt % in total of silicon, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.

15. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive carbon matrix has an amorphous structure with graphite-like character.

16. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the conductive carbon matrix has been obtained by pyrolysis of a pyrolytic carbon precursor.

17. The composite particles according to claim 1 , comprising cross-links between the silicon nanoparticles and the conductive carbon matrix.

18. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles comprise a carbon coating.

19. The composite particles according to claim 18 , wherein the carbon coating has been obtained by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method.

20. The composite particles according to claim 1 , wherein the composite particles have been subjected to a size reduction step.

21. The composite particles according to claim 20 , wherein the size reduction step comprises ball milling, planetary milling, jet milling or a combination thereof.

22. The composite particles according to claim 20 , wherein the composite particles comprise a carbon coating.

23. An electrode comprising an electrode composition forming a layer on a current collector, the electrode composition comprising the composite particles according to claim 1 and at least one other component selected from: (i) a binder; (ii) a conductive additive; and (iii) an additional particulate electroactive material.

24. The electrode according to claim 23 , wherein the composite particles constitute from 0.5 to 80 wt % of total dry weight of the electrode composition.

25. A rechargeable metal-ion battery comprising an anode, wherein the anode comprises the composite particles according to claim 1 .

Priority Claims (1)
GB 1709685 · Jun 16, 2017 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 18205033 · Jun 2, 2023
Continuation 16619064
Related Publication 20240372071A1 · Nov 7, 2024
References Cited (105)
US 6334939B1 · Zhou et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 6514395B2 · Zhou et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 7883995B2 · Mitchell et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8526166B2 · Choi et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 9461304B2 · Newbound et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9548489B2 · Abdelsalam et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9859552B2 · Fukasawa et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10008716B2 · Abdelsalam et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10077506B2 · Friend et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10090513B2 · Canham et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10103379B2 · Macklin et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10164257B2 · Otsuka et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10388948B2 · Abdelsalam et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10396355B2 · Cho et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10586976B2 · Cho et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10673072B2 · Cho et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10693134B2 · Cho et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10797303B2 · Cho et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10797312B2 · Cho et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10822713B2 · Friend et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 11171332B2 · Park et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11196042B2 · Cho et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11710819B2 · Bogart et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 20010044045A1 · Sato et al. · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 20020086211A1 · Umeno et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20030150378A1 · Winterton et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20030215711A1 · Aramata et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20040052867A1 · Canham · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040166319A1 · Li et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20090186267A1 · Tiegs · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20100266902A1 · Takano et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100279172A1 · Hwang et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100288970A1 · Watanabe et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20110165468A1 · Alias et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110236493A1 · Canham et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110256452A1 · Cho et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110311873A1 · Schulz et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20130040199A1 · Yamamura · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130157127A1 · Hirose et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140004426A1 · Kerlau et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140021415A1 · Kang et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140050987A1 · Park et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140246398A1 · Zaghib et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140272592A1 · Thompkins et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140302396A1 · Lu et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140346436A1 · Li et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140349183A1 · Macklin et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140349187A1 · Hirose et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150044571A1 · Abdelsalam et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150104705A1 · Canham et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150263342A1 · Newbound et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150280221A1 · Abdelsalam et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150380735A1 · Tuduki et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160126538A1 · Hanelt et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160172670A1 · Friend · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160308205A1 · Canham et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160359162A1 · Kim et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170033357A1 · Cho et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170047580A1 · Cho et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170133674A1 · Murphy et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170200939A1 · Murphy et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170214042A1 · Cho et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170346079A1 · Friend et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170352883A1 · Cho et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180034056A1 · Cho et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180069234A1 · Friend et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180083263A1 · Cho et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190119826A1 · Friend et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190148718A1 · Hatazawa et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190190020A1 · Park et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190198869A1 · Park et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190296340A1 · Cho et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190326594A1 · Cho et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 106384825A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
EP 2919298A1 · 2015 [cited by applicant]
JP 2013008585A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
KR 100578871B1 · 2006 [cited by applicant]
KR 20080091883A · 2008 [cited by applicant]
KR 20120120034A · 2012 [cited by applicant]
KR 20130107892A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
KR 20160115270A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
KR 20160144573A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2005096414A2 · 2005 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2006097380A1 · 2006 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2007083155A1 · 2007 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2007094641A1 · 2007 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2010128310A1 · 2010 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2011109328A1 · 2011 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2012028857A1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2012028858A1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2012093224A1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2012175998A1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2015157538A1 · 2015 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2016085953A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2016153322A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2016174023A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
Hess, D.W., Thermal oxidation of silicon, Chemical Engineering Education, 4 pages, (1990). [cited by applicant]
International Search Report, PCT/GB2018/051689 (Electroactive Materials for Metal-Ion Batteries, filed Jun. 18, 2018), issued by ISA/European Patent Office, 4 pages, Sep. 19, 2018. [cited by applicant]
Nishihara, H. et al., Fabrication of a Highly Conductive Ordered Porous Electrode by Carbon-Coating of a Continuous Mesoporous Silica Film, Chem. Mater, 23:3144-3151, (2011). [cited by applicant]
Ohara, S. et al., A thin film silicon anode for Li-ion batteries having a very large specific capacity and long cycle life, Journal of Power Sources, (136):303-306 (2004). [cited by applicant]
Ren, W. et al., Preparation of porous silicon/carbon microspheres as high performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries, Journal of Materials Chemistry A: Materials for Energy and Sustainability, 3(11):5859-5865… [cited by applicant]
Su, L. et al., Core Double-shell Si@SiO [cited by applicant]
Wang, Z. et al., Sub-micron silicon/pyrolyzed carbon@natural graphite self-assembly composite anode material for lithium-ion batteries, Chemical Engineering Journal, 313:187-196, (2017). [cited by applicant]
Winter, M. et al., Insertion Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries, Adv. Mater. 10(10):725-763 (1988). [cited by applicant]
Written Opinion, PCT/GB2018/051689, (Electroactive Materials for Metal-Ion Batteries, filed Jun. 18, 2018), issued by ISA/European Patent Office, issued by ISA/European Patent Office, 6 pages, Sep. 19, 2018. [cited by applicant]