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

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种电池电极修饰方法，以提高锂离子电池的性能。电动汽车用锂离子电池中应用最广泛的正极材料是富镍氧化物。然而，低化学和电化学稳定性、大的非活性材料需求（通常为10-15%）以及由于表面吸附水而导致的高成本存储这些材料阻碍了富镍电池正极材料的进一步发展和大规模实施。通过提出的技术，组装的阴极实现了更高的化学和电化学稳定性，阴极中超低的非活性物质含量（小于1%），并且由于在环境空气中的稳定性，显著降低了在空气中排斥水的存储成本。这种新的电极制造方法可以使电动汽车行驶里程更长，电池寿命更长。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种新的电池阴极制造工艺，利用独特的气相导电聚合物涂层技术，使用氧化化学气相沉积（oCVD）。通过oCVD制备的多功能导电聚合物由于其高导电性和粘接性，实现了超高的活性物质浓度（高达99%）。oCVD聚合物通过限制不利的反应和相（如阴极/电解质界面相和阴极表面的水吸附）来保护阴极表面。与没有oCVD聚合物涂层的锂离子电池相比，活性物质浓度的增加和保护能力的提高有效地提高了锂离子电池的容量（提高了10%），倍率性能（提高了14%），循环寿命（延长了550%）。所提出的电池制造技术有望缓解高镍阴极材料的性能退化问题，高镍阴极材料由于界面相和水吸附而存在高电池容量和高性能保持之间的权衡。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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.