I-Corps Team: Sustainable Battery Electrode Manufacturing with High Active Material Loading

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发电池电极改性方法，以提高锂离子电池性能。在电动车辆的锂离子电池中最广泛使用的阴极材料是富镍（Ni）氧化物。然而，低的化学和电化学稳定性、大的非活性材料需求（通常为10-15%）以及由于表面上的水吸附而导致的这些材料的储存所需的高成本阻碍了用于电池阴极的富Ni材料的进一步发展和大规模实施。通过所提出的技术，组装的阴极实现了更高的化学和电化学稳定性，阴极中的超低非活性材料含量（小于1%），以及由于在环境空气中的稳定性而显著降低的存储成本以排斥空气中的水。 I-Corps的这个项目是基于开发一种新的电池阴极制造工艺，利用氧化化学气相沉积（oCVD）的独特气相导电聚合物涂层技术。通过oCVD制备的多功能导电聚合物由于oCVD聚合物的高导电性和粘附功能而实现超高活性材料浓度（高达99%）。 oCVD聚合物通过限制不利的反应和相（例如有害的阴极/电解质界面相和阴极表面上的水吸附）来保护阴极表面。与没有oCVD聚合物涂层的电池相比，增加的活性材料浓度和保护能力有效地有助于提高锂离子电池容量（高10%），倍率性能（高14%）和循环寿命（长550%）。 由于界面相和吸水性，高镍阴极材料在高电池容量和高性能保持率之间存在权衡，因此，拟议的电池制造技术有望缓解高镍阴极材料的性能退化问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a battery electrode modification method to enhance lithium (Li)-ion battery performance. The most widely used cathode materials in the Li-ion battery for electrical vehicles are nickel (Ni)-rich oxides. However, the low chemical and electrochemical stability, the large inactive material requirement (typically 10-15%), and the high cost needed for the storage of these materials due to the water adsorption on the surface hinder the further advancement and large-scale implementation of the Ni-rich material for the battery cathode. Through the proposed technology, the assembled cathode achieves higher chemical and electrochemical stability, ultra-low inactive material content in the cathode (less than 1%), and a significant reduction in the storage cost to repel water in the air due to the stability in ambient air. This new electrode manufacturing method may enable longer driving mileage of electric vehicles and a longer battery life span.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a new battery cathode manufacturing process, leveraging a unique gas phase conducting polymer coating technique using oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD). A multi-functional conducting polymer prepared through oCVD achieves ultra-high active materials concentration (up to 99%) due to the high conductivity and adhesive function of the oCVD polymers. The oCVD polymers protect the cathode surface by limiting unfavorable reactions and phases such as detrimental cathode/electrolyte interfacial phases and water adsorption on the cathode surface. The increased active material concentration and the protection ability effectively contribute to the enhancement of lithium-ion battery capacity (10% higher), rate performance (14% higher), and cycle life (550% longer), compared to those without oCVD polymer coating. The proposed battery manufacturing technique is expected to mitigate the performance degradation issues for high nickel cathode materials where a trade-off exists between high battery capacity and high performance-retention due to the interfacial phases and water adsorption.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.