A styrene butadiene rubber (SBR)-polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) based binder system has been developed for an electrochemical system that is not compatible with the conventional N-methyl pyrrolidinone (NMP) solvent used to cast most Li-ion electrode slurries. This polymer system's binding properties decouple the mechanical and ionic-transport properties. It demonstrates comparable mechanical properties to SBR-based electrodes and cell performance to traditional PVDF-based electrodes. This new binder design however enables the incorporation of stabilized lithium metal powder (SLMP) into a graphite anode to improve its first cycle coulombic efficiency. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013.

Lithium ion cells that can be quickly charged are of critical importance for the continued and accelerated penetration of electric vehicles (EV) into the consumer market. Considering this, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set a cell recharge time goal of 10–15 min. The following study provides an investigation into the effect of cell design, specifically negative to positive matching ratio (1.2:1 vs. 1.7:1) on fast charging performance. By using specific charging procedures based on negative electrode performance, as opposed to the industrial standard constant current constant voltage procedures, we show that the cells with a higher N:P ratio can be charged to ~16% higher capacity in the ten-minute time frame. Cells with a higher N:P ratio also show similar cycle life performance to those with a conventional N:P ratio, despite the fact that these cells experience a much higher irreversible capacity loss, leading to a lower reversible specific capacity.

The rheological properties of electrode slurries used in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries affect the manufacturing processes as well as the battery quality, such as electrochemical and durability performance. There is thus an urgent need to develop a physics-based model to describe the rheological properties of these electrode slurries to enable further optimization of battery electrode production. In this paper, we present a microrheological model for estimating the viscosity of electrode slurries that incorporates colloidal forces such as van der Waals and polymeric steric repulsion forces. The model shows good agreement with the experimentally determined viscosities of a graphite-based anode slurry and should be extendable to describe the rheological properties of cathode slurries.

This describes a vertically-integrated exploration of NMC electrode rate limitations, combining experiments with corresponding macroscale (macro-homogeneous) and microscale models. Parameters common to both models were obtained from experiments or based on published results. Positive electrode tortuosity was the sole fitting parameter used in the macroscale model, while the microscale model used no fitting parameters, instead relying on microstructural domains generated from X-ray microtomography of pristine electrode material held under compression while immersed in electrolyte solution (additionally providing novel observations of electrode wetting). Macroscale simulations showed that the capacity decrease observed at higher rates resulted primarily from solution-phase diffusion resistance. This ability to provide such qualitative insights at low computational costs is a strength of macroscale models, made possible by neglecting electrode spatial details. To explore the consequences of such simplification, the corresponding, computationally-expensive microscale model was constructed. This was found to have limitations preventing quantitatively accurate predictions, for reasons that are discussed in the hope of guiding future work. Nevertheless, the microscale simulation results complement those of the macroscale model by providing a reality-check based on microstructural information; in particular, this novel comparison of the two approaches suggests a reexamination of salt diffusivity measurements.

A composite lithium electrolyte composed of polyelectrolyte-grafted nanoparticles and polyethylene glycol dimethyl ether (PEGDME) is synthesized and characterized. Polyanions immobilized by the silica nanoparticles have reduced anion mobility. Composite nanoparticles grafted by poly(lithium 4-styrenesulfonate) only have moderate conductivity at 60 °C. Almost an order increase of the conductivity to ∼10(-6) S/cm is achieved by co-polymerization of the poly(ethylene oxide) methacrylate with sodium 4-styrenesulfonate, which enhances dissociation between lithium cation and polyanion and facilitates lithium ion transfer from the inner part of the polyelectrolyte layer. This composite electrolyte has the potential to suppress lithium dendrite growth and enable the use of lithium metal anode in rechargeable batteries.

Poor thermal transport within lithium-ion batteries fundamentally limits their performance, safety, and lifetime, in spite of external thermal management systems. All prior efforts to understand the origin of batteries' mysteriously high thermal resistance have been confined to ex situ measurements without understanding the impact of battery operation. Here, we develop a frequency-domain technique that employs sensors capable of measuring spatially resolved intrinsic thermal transport properties within a live battery while it is undergoing cycling. Our results reveal that the poor battery thermal transport is due to high thermal contact resistance between the separator and both electrode layers and worsens as a result of formation cycling, degrading total battery thermal transport by up to 70%. We develop a thermal model of these contact resistances to explain their origin. These contacts account for up to 65% of the total thermal resistance inside the battery, leading to far-reaching consequences for the thermal design of batteries. Our technique unlocks new thermal measurement capabilities for future battery research.

Stabilized Lithium Metal Powder (SLMP®) was applied in graphite anode and the effects of this prelithiation method to cell performance were investigated. Performance of prelithiated cells was compared with that of regular graphite based cells. The first cycle capacity loss of SLMP prelithiated cell was largely reduced and the corresponding first cycle Coulombic efficiency was significantly improved. The graphite/NMC cell with SLMP prelithiation but without any standard cell formation process showed better cycle performance than that of none SLMP containing cell with standard formation process. Prelithiation of graphite electrode with SLMP promote stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) formation on the surface of graphite anode. Application of SLMP in lithium-ion battery thus provides an effective method to enhance capacity, and promises a low cost SEI formation process. This also implies the potential use of other promising anode materials, such as Si and Sn that have large first cycle capacity loss, in commercial lithium-ion batteries. © 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Lithium bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonamide (TFSI) is a promising electrolyte salt in lithium batteries, due to its good conductivity and high dissociation between the lithium cation and its anion. By tethering N-pentane trifluoromethane sulfonamide (C5NHTf), a TFSI analogue molecule, onto the surface of silica nanoparticle as a monolayer coverage should increase the Li(+) transference number to unity since anions bound to particles have reduced mobilities. Silica polymer composite has better mechanical property than that of the pure PEO. Analogously trifluoromethane sulfonic aminoethyl methacrylate (TfMA), a TFSI analogue vinyl monomer, was polymerized on silica nanoparticle surface as a multilayer coverage. Anchored polyelectrolytes to particle surfaces offer multiple sites for anions, and in principle the carrier concentration would increase arbitrarily and approach the carrier concentration of the bulk polyelectrolyte. Monolayer grafted nanoparticles have a lithium content of 1.2 × 10(-3) g Li/g, and multilayer grafted nanoparticles have a lithium content over an order higher at 2 × 10(-2) g Li/g. Electrolytes made from monolayer grafted particles exhibit a weak conductivity dependence on temperature, exhibiting an ionic conductivity in the range of 10(-6) S/cm when temperatures increase to 80 °C. While electrolytes made from multilayer grafted particles show a steep increase in conductivity with temperature with an ionic conductivity increase to 3 × 10(-5) S/cm at 80 °C, with an O/Li ratio of 32.

A highly graphitized carbon on a silicon monoxide (SiO) surface coating at low temperature, based on polymer precursor π⁻π stacking, was developed. A novel conductive and electrochemically stable carbon coating was rationally designed to modify the SiO anode materials by controlling the sintering of a conductive polymer, a pyrene-based homopolymer poly (1-pyrenemethyl methacrylate; PPy), which achieved high graphitization of the carbon layers at a low temperature and avoided silicon carbide formation and possible SiO material transformation. When evaluated as the anode of a lithium-ion battery (LIB), the carbon-coated SiO composite delivered a high discharge capacity of 2058.6 mAh/g at 0.05 C of the first formation cycle with an initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 62.2%. After 50 cycles at 0.1 C, this electrode capacity was 1090.2 mAh/g (~82% capacity retention, relative to the capacity of the second cycle at 0.1 °C rate), and a specific capacity of 514.7 mAh/g was attained at 0.3 C after 500 cycles. Furthermore, the coin-type full cell composed of the carbon coated SiO composite anode and the Li[Ni_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂] cathode attained excellent cycling performance. The results show the potential applications for using a π⁻π stacking polymer precursor to generate a highly graphitize coating for next-generation high-energy-density LIBs.