THREE-DIMENSIONAL BATTERY WITH HYBRID NANO-CARBON LAYER

• US 20100151318A1
• Filed: 12/09/2009
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Lazik, Christopher, Bachrach, Robert Z., LOPATIN, SERGEY D.
• Application Number:
  US12/634,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20100151318A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 429/163
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0562 Solid materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0565 Polymeric materials, e.g. gel-type or solid-type
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0585 of accumulators having only flat construction elements, i.e. flat positive electrodes, flat negative electrodes and flat separators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0428 Chemical vapour deposition
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/13 Electrodes for accumulators with non-aqueous electrolyte, e.g. for lithium-accumulators; Processes of manufacture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/139 Processes of manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/366 as layered products
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/663 containing carbon or carbonaceous materials as conductive part, e.g. graphite, carbon fibres
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/667 in the form of layers, e.g. coatings
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/70 characterised by shape or form
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A Li-ion battery cell is formed from deposited thin-film layers and comprises a high-surface-area 3-D battery structure. The high-surface-area 3-D battery structure includes a fullerene-hybrid material deposited onto a surface of a conductive substrate and a conformal metallic layer deposited onto the fullerene-hybrid material. The fullerene-hybrid material is made up of chains of fullerene “onions” linked by carbon nanotubes to form a high-surface-area layer on the conductive substrate and has a “three-dimensional” surface. The conformal metallic layer acts as the active anode material in the Li-ion battery and also has a high surface area, thereby forming a high-surface-area anode. The Li-ion battery cell also includes an ionic electrolyte-separator layer, an active cathodic material layer, and a metal current collector for the cathode, each of which is deposited as a conformal thin film.

Claims

1. An electrode structure, comprising:

a conductive substrate;

a fullerene-hybrid material formed on a surface of the conductive substrate; and

a metallic layer conformally deposited on the fullerene-hybrid material and at least a portion of the surface of the conductive substrate.

2. The electrode structure of claim 1, wherein the fullerene-hybrid material is comprised of carbon fullerene onions linked by carbon nanotubes to form a high-surface-area layer having a three-dimensional surface.

3. The electrode structure of claim 2, wherein the carbon fullerene onions comprises C₆₀, C₇₀, C₇₂, C₈₄, or C₁₁₂ molecules.

4. The electrode structure of claim 2, wherein the fullerene-hybrid material comprises high-aspect-ratio chains of spherical carbon fullerene onions.

5. The electrode structure of claim 2, wherein the fullerene-hybrid material is a high-aspect ratio configuration of spherical carbon fullerene onions connected by single-walled or multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

6. The electrode structure of claim 5, further comprising a single-walled carbon nanotube shell surrounding one or more of spherical carbon fullerene onions.

7. The electrode structure of claim 4, wherein the high-aspect-ratio chains of spherical carbon fullerene onions are at least about 1 micron to about 20 micron in length.

8. The electrode structure of claim 1, wherein the metallic layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), tungsten (W), their alloys, their oxides, their lithium-containing compounds, and tin (Sn), tin-cobalt (SnCo), tin-copper (Sn—

Cu), tin-cobalt-titanium (Sn—

Co—

Ti), tin-copper-titanium (Sn—

Cu—

Ti), and their oxides.

9. The electrode structure of claim 1, wherein the metallic layer has a thickness less than about 0.1 μ

m to 1 μ

m.

10. The electrode structure of claim 1, wherein the fullerene-hybrid material comprises a first carbon fullerene onion, a second carbon fullerene onion connected to the first carbon fullerene onion by a first carbon nanotube having a first diameter, and a third carbon fullerene onion connected to the first carbon fullerene onion by a second carbon nanotube having a second diameter, and wherein the first and second diameters are less than about half of a diameter of the first carbon fullerene onion.

11. A lithium-ion battery having an electrode structure, comprising:

an anodic structure, comprising;

a conductive substrate;

a fullerene-hybrid material formed on a surface of the conductive substrate; and

an active anodic material layer conformally deposited on the fullerene-hybrid material and at least a portion of the conductive substrate;

an electrolyte-separator layer conformally deposited on the active anodic material layer;

an active cathodic material layer conformally deposited on the electrolyte-separator layer; and

a metallic layer conformally deposited on the cathodic material layer.

12. The lithium-ion battery of claim 11, wherein the fullerene-hybrid material is comprised of carbon fullerene onions linked by carbon nanotubes to form a high-surface-area layer having a three-dimensional surface.

13. The lithium-ion battery of claim 11, wherein the electrolyte-separator layer comprises a lithium-containing inorganic material.

14. The lithium-ion battery of claim 11, wherein the active anodic material layer comprises tin-cobalt-titanium (SnCoTi), tin-copper-titanium (SnCuTi), lithium-titanium-oxygen (LiTiO), oxides thereof, or carbonates thereof.

15. The lithium-ion battery of claim 11, wherein the active cathodic material layer comprises lithium metal oxides such as LiFePO, LiMnO, LiCoNiO, lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂), Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄), or lithium manganese oxide (LiMn₂O₄).

16. The lithium-ion battery of claim 11, wherein the metallic layer has a substantially planar surface.

17. The lithium-ion battery of claim 11, wherein the conductive substrate is a flexible substrate.

18. A lithium-ion battery, comprising:

a conductive substrate;

a fullerene-hybrid material formed on a surface of the conductive substrate;

a first metallic layer conformally deposited on the fullerene-hybrid material;

an anodic material layer conformally deposited on the metallic layer;

an electrolyte-separator layer conformally deposited on the anodic material layer;

an active cathodic material layer conformally deposited on the electrolyte-separator layer;

a second metallic layer conformally deposited on the active cathodic material layer;

a thick metallic layer deposited on the conformal metallic layer to form a substantially planar surface;

a first contact foil tab connected to the thick metallic layer;

a second contact foil tab connected to the conductive substrate; and

a packaging encapsulation film-foil applied by lamination.

19. A method of forming an electrode structure, comprising:

vaporizing a high molecular weight hydrocarbon precursor;

directing the vaporized high molecular weight hydrocarbon precursor onto a conductive substrate to deposit a fullerene-hybrid material thereon; and

depositing a thin metallic layer onto the fullerene-hybrid material using a thin-film metal deposition process, wherein the thin metallic layer is in good electrical contact with a surface of the conductive substrate, and the high molecular weight hydrocarbon precursor comprises molecules having at least 18 carbon (C) atoms.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

depositing an electrolyte onto the thin metallic layer, wherein the electrolyte is formed from lithium phosphorous oxyNitride (LiPON), lithium-oxygen-phosphorus (LiOP), lithium-phosphorus (LiP), lithium polymer electrolyte, lithium bisoxalatoborate (LiBOB), lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF₆) in combination with ethylene carbonate (C₃H₄O₃), dimethylene carbonate (C₃H₆O₃), or ionic liquids.