LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES WITH NANOSTRUCTURED ELECTRODES AND ASSOCIATED METHODS OF MAKING

• US 20120313587A1
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Published: 12/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Washington State University
• Original Assignee: Washington State University
• Inventors: Norton, M. Grant, Sahaym, Uttara
• Granted Patent: US 9,493,885 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/128
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 21/02 Heating or cooling
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 21/10 Agitating of electrolytes; Moving of racks
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 21/12 Process control or regulation controlling or regulating in general G05
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 21/14 Controlled addition of electrolyte components
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 3/30 of tin
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 5/18 Electroplating using modulated, pulsed or reversing current
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 5/34 Pretreatment of metallic surfaces to be electroplated
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 5/611 Smooth layers
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 5/617 Crystalline layers
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 5/627 Electroplating characterised by the visual appearance of the layers, e.g. colour, brightness or mat appearance
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 7/0614 Strips or foils
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2004/027 Negative electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0452 from solutions
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0461 Electrochemical alloying
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/134 Electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/1395 of electrodes based on metals, Si or alloys
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/387 Tin or alloys based on tin
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/661 Metal or alloys, e.g. alloy coatings H01M4/669 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/75 Wires, rods or strips
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/80 : Porous plates, e.g. sintered carriers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 : Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

Several embodiments related to lithium-ion batteries having electrodes with nanostructures, compositions of such nanostructures, and associated methods of making such electrodes are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for producing an anode suitable for a lithium-ion battery comprising preparing a surface of a substrate material and forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures on the surface of the substrate material via electrodeposition without using a template.

Claims

1. A method for producing an anode suitable for a lithium-ion battery comprising:

preparing a surface of a substrate material; and

forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures on the surface of the substrate material via electrodeposition without using a template.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures includes forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures on the surface of the substrate material via electrodeposition without using a template at a temperature greater than about 40°

C.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures includes forming a plurality of conductive nanoneedles on the surface of the substrate material via electrodeposition without using a template.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures includes forming a plurality of tin (Sn) nanoneedles on the surface of the substrate material via electrodeposition without using a template.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a plurality of conductive nanostructures includes forming a plurality of tin (Sn) nanoneedles on the surface of the substrate material via electrodeposition without using a template, and wherein the substrate material includes copper with surface copper oxide (Cu2O).

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting at least one of a deposition temperature, a deposition current density, a chemical composition of a deposition electrolyte, or agitation during the electrodeposition such that the conductive nanostructures are formed on the surface of the substrate material.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein forming the plurality of conductive nanostructures includes growing a nucleation layer on the surface of the substrate material and subsequently, forming nanostructures on the nucleation layer via electrodeposition.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein forming the plurality of conductive nanostructures includes growing a nucleation layer on the surface of the substrate material at a first temperature and forming nanostructures on the nucleation layer via electrodeposition at a second temperature different than the first temperature.

9. A lithium-ion battery comprising:

an electrolyte;

a cathode in contact with the electrolyte; and

an anode spaced apart from the cathode and in contact with the electrolyte, the anode including a plurality of conductive nanostructures covering 1% or more of the anode.

10. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include a plurality of freestanding nanostructures.

11. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include a plurality of nanoneedles.

12. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include a plurality of nanoneedles individually having a generally constant cross-sectional area or tapered along at least a portion of a length of the individual nanoneedles.

13. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include a plurality of tin (Sn) nanoneedles individually having a generally constant cross-sectional area or tapered along at least a portion of a length of the individual nanoneedles.

14. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include a plurality of tin (Sn) nanoneedles individually having a base and a tip, wherein the individual tin nanoneedles are about 2 μ

m to about 5 μ

m in length between the base and the tip, about 20 nm to about 50 nm in width at the tip, and about 50 nm to about 200 nm in width at the base.

15. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include one- and/or multi-dimensional nanostructures.

16. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include at least one of nanoneedles, nanowires, nanosprings, or nanofibers.

17. The lithium-ion battery of claim 9 wherein the plurality of conductive nanostructures include at least one of nanoneedles, nanowires, nanosprings, or nanofibers constructed from at least one of tin (Sn), palladium (Pd), a tin-copper alloy, a zinc-copper alloy, a tin-gold alloy, or a tin-silver alloy.

18. A method for operating a lithium-ion battery having an electrolyte, a cathode, and an anode with a plurality of conductive nanostructures covering 1% or more of the anode, comprising:

charging the lithium-ion battery by

providing a charging current to the cathode;

extracting lithium ions from the cathode and moving the extracted lithium ions toward the anode with the charging current; and

inserting the extracted lithium ions into the plurality of conductive nanostructures of the anode without causing pulverization of the anode as a whole.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

discharging the lithium-ion battery;

subsequently charging the lithium-ion battery by performing the providing, extracting, and inserting operations; and

generally maintaining structural integrity and shape of the conductive nanostructures.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

discharging the lithium-ion battery;

subsequently charging the lithium-ion battery by performing the providing, extracting, and inserting operations;

repeating the discharging and charging operations for 100 cycles; and

generally maintaining structural integrity and shape of the conductive nanostructures after repeating the discharging and charging operations for 100 cycles.