U.S. patent application number 15/399538 was filed with the patent office on 2017-10-26 for method of fabricating fibres composed of silicon or a silicon-based material and their use in lithium rechargeable batteries.
The applicant listed for this patent is Nexeon Limited. Invention is credited to Mino Green, Feng-Ming Liu.
Application Number | 20170309900 15/399538 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36010793 |
Filed Date | 2017-10-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170309900 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Green; Mino ; et
al. |
October 26, 2017 |
Method of Fabricating Fibres Composed of Silicon or a Silicon-Based
Material and Their Use in Lithium Rechargeable Batteries
Abstract
A method of fabricating fibres of silicon or silicon-based
material comprises the steps of etching pillars on a substrate and
detaching them. A battery anode can then be created by using the
fibres as the active material in a composite anode electrode.
Inventors: |
Green; Mino; (London,
GB) ; Liu; Feng-Ming; (Reading, GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Nexeon Limited |
Abingdon |
|
GB |
|
|
Family ID: |
36010793 |
Appl. No.: |
15/399538 |
Filed: |
January 5, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14055371 |
Oct 16, 2013 |
9583762 |
|
|
15399538 |
|
|
|
|
13286740 |
Nov 1, 2011 |
8597831 |
|
|
14055371 |
|
|
|
|
12161126 |
Feb 25, 2010 |
8101298 |
|
|
PCT/GB2007/000211 |
Jan 23, 2007 |
|
|
|
13286740 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01M 2004/027 20130101;
H01M 4/1393 20130101; H01M 4/1395 20130101; H01M 4/5825 20130101;
H01M 4/0402 20130101; Y02P 70/50 20151101; C30B 29/60 20130101;
H01M 4/133 20130101; H01M 4/131 20130101; C30B 29/06 20130101; H01M
10/0525 20130101; H01M 4/386 20130101; Y02E 60/122 20130101; Y10T
29/49108 20150115; Y10T 29/49115 20150115; Y02P 70/54 20151101;
Y02E 60/10 20130101; C30B 33/08 20130101; H01M 4/134 20130101; H01M
4/587 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H01M 4/38 20060101
H01M004/38; H01M 10/0525 20100101 H01M010/0525; C30B 29/06 20060101
C30B029/06; C30B 29/60 20060101 C30B029/60; H01M 4/587 20100101
H01M004/587; H01M 4/1393 20100101 H01M004/1393; H01M 4/134 20100101
H01M004/134; H01M 4/133 20100101 H01M004/133; C30B 33/08 20060101
C30B033/08; H01M 4/1395 20100101 H01M004/1395; H01M 4/04 20060101
H01M004/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 23, 2006 |
GB |
0601319.7 |
Claims
1. A method of fabricating a porous structure comprising a felt of
fibers of silicon material, the method comprising: providing a
slurry of the fibers and a binder in a solvent; depositing the
slurry on a substrate; and allowing the solvent to evaporate.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fibers have
transverse dimensions in the range 0.08 to 0.5 microns and lengths
in the range 20 to 300 microns.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the silicon material is
undoped silicon or doped silicon.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fibers are single
crystal fibers.
5. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the fibers have aspect
ratios of greater than 40:1.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fibers are made by a
method comprising etching a substrate comprising the silicon
material to form a plurality of pillars; and detaching the pillars
from the substrate to form the fibers.
7. An anode for a lithium-ion battery comprising: a current
collector; a porous structure comprising a felt of fibers of
silicon material disposed on and in electrical contact with the
current collector, the felt comprising a disorded non-woven mat of
the fibers of silicon material, the fibers of silicon material
having transverse dimensions in the range 0.08 to 0.5 microns and
lengths in the range 20 to 300 microns.
8. An anode as claimed in claim 7, wherein the silicon material is
undoped silicon or doped silicon.
9. An anode as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fibers are single
crystal fibers.
10. An anode as claimed in claim 7, wherein the fibers are
fabricated by a method according to claim 2.
11. An anode as claimed in claim 7, wherein the porous felt has a
percentage pore volume of about 10-30 percent.
12. An anode as claimed in claim 7, wherein the disordered
non-woven mat comprises a plurality of welds, each at an
intersection between fibers.
13. An anode as claimed in claim 7, wherein the porous structure
further comprises a binder, an electronic additive, or both.
14. An anode as claimed in claim 13, wherein the mass of the fibers
in the porous structure is between 70 percent and 95 percent of the
mass of the porous structure.
15. A method for making an anode as claimed in claim 13, the method
comprising depositing a slurry containing the fibers and the
binder, the electronic additive or both in a solvent on a current
collector, and allowing the solvent to evaporate.
16. An electrochemical cell comprising: an anode comprising a
porous structure comprising a felt of fibers of silicon material
disposed on and in electrical contact with the current collector,
the felt comprising a disorded non-woven mat of the fibers of
silicon material, the fibers of silicon material having transverse
dimensions in the range 0.08 to 0.5 microns and lengths in the
range 20 to 300 microns; a cathode comprising a lithium-containing
compound capable of releasing and reabsorbing lithium ions as its
active material; an electrolyte disposed between and in contact
with the anode and the cathode, and in the pores of the porous
structure of the anode.
17. An electrochemical cell as claimed in claim 16, wherein the
cathode comprises lithium-based metal oxide or phosphate as its
active material.
18. An electrochemical cell as claimed in claim 16, wherein the
porous structure further comprises a binder, an electronic
additive, or both.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a method of fabricating fibres
composed of silicon or a silicon-based material and their use the
active anode material in rechargeable lithium battery cells.
[0002] It is well known that silicon can be used as the active
anode material of a rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cell
(see, for example, Insertion Electrode Materials for Rechargeable
Lithium Batteries, M. Winter, J. O. Besenhard, M. E. Spahr, and P.
Novak in Adv. Mater. 1998, 10, No. 10). The basic composition of a
conventional lithium-ion rechargeable battery cell is shown in FIG.
1 including a graphite-based anode electrode, the component to be
replaced by the silicon-based anode. The battery cell includes a
single cell but may also include more than one cell.
[0003] The battery cell generally comprises a copper current
collector for the anode 10 and an aluminium current collector for
the cathode 12 which are externally connectable to a load or to a
recharging source as appropriate. A graphite-based composite anode
layer 14 overlays the current collector 10 and a lithium containing
metal oxide-based composite cathode layer 16 overlays the current
collector 12. A porous plastic spacer or separator 20 is provided
between the graphite-based composite anode layer 14 and the lithium
containing metal oxide-based composite cathode layer 16 and a
liquid electrolyte material is dispersed within porous plastic
spacer or separator 20, the composite anode layer 14 and the
composite cathode layer 16. In some cases, the porous plastic
spacer or separator 20 may be replaced by a polymer electrolyte
material and in such cases the polymer electrolyte material is
present within both the composite anode layer 14 and the composite
cathode layer 16.
[0004] When the battery cell is fully charged, lithium has been
transported from the lithium containing metal oxide via the
electrolyte into the graphite-based layer where it reacts with the
graphite to create the compound, LiC.sub.6. The graphite, being the
electrochemically active material in the composite anode layer, has
a maximum capacity of 372 mAh/g. It will be noted that the terms
"anode" and "cathode" are used in the sense that the battery is
placed across a load.
[0005] It is generally believed that silicon, when used as an
active anode material in a lithium-ion rechargeable cell, provides
a significantly higher capacity than the currently used graphite.
Silicon when converted to the compound Li.sub.21Si.sub.5 by
reaction with lithium in an electrochemical cell, has a capacity of
4,200 mAh/g.
[0006] Existing approaches of using a silicon or silicon-based
active anode material in a lithium-ion electrochemical cell have
failed to show sustained capacity over the required number of
charge/discharge cycles and are thus not commercially viable.
[0007] One approach uses silicon in the form of a powder, in some
instances made into a composite with optionally an electronic
additive and containing an appropriate binder such as
polyvinylidene difluoride coated onto a copper current collector.
However, this electrode fails to show sustained capacity when
subjected to charge/discharge cycles. It is believed that this
capacity loss is due to partial mechanical isolation of the silicon
powder mass arising from the volumetric expansion/contraction
associated with lithium insertion/extraction into and from the host
silicon. In turn this gives rise to agglomeration of the powder
mass in electrically isolated "islands".
[0008] In another approach described by Ohara et al. in Journal of
Power Sources 136 (2004) 303-306 silicon is evaporated onto a
nickel foil current collector as a thin film and this structure is
then used to form the anode of a lithium-ion cell. However,
although this approach gives good capacity retention, this is only
the case for very thin films and thus these structures do not give
usable amounts of capacity per unit area and increasing the film
thickness to give usable amounts of capacity per unit area causes
the good capacity retention to be eliminated.
[0009] In another approach described in US2004/0126659, silicon is
evaporated onto nickel fibres which are then used to form the anode
of a lithium battery. However this is found to provide an uneven
distribution of silicon on the nickel fibres hence significantly
affecting operation.
[0010] In another approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,887,511,
silicon is evaporated onto a roughened copper substrate to create
medium-thickness films of up to 10 .mu.m. During the initial
lithium ion insertion process, the silicon film breaks up to form
pillars of silicon. These pillars can then reversibly react with
lithium ions and good capacity retention is achieved. However, the
process does not function well with thicker film and the creation
of the medium-thickness film is an expensive process. Furthermore
the pillared structure caused by the break up of the film has no
inherent porosity such that issues may arise with long term
capacity retention.
[0011] The invention is set out in the claims. Because the anode
electrode structure uses fibres of silicon or silicon-based
material, the problems of reversibly reacting these silicon or
silicon-based fibres with lithium are overcome. In particular by
arranging the fibres in a composite structure, that is a mixture of
fibres a polymer binder and an electronic additive, the
charge/discharge process becomes reversible and repeatable and good
capacity retention is achieved. In addition the manner in which the
fibres are laid can provide advantages. By providing a dis-ordered
non-woven mat of fibres, a fully reversible and repeatable charging
capability is introduced without risk of significant mechanical
isolation. For example the fibres may be deposited as a felt or
felt-like structure. In the case of a composite structure this can
be with the additional components, or the felt can be with a simple
binder or, where structurally appropriate, loose.
[0012] Furthermore, a simplified method of fabricating fibres is
provided comprising etching a substrate to produce pillars and
detaching the pillars providing a robust and high-yield
approach.
[0013] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way
of example, with reference to the figures, of which:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the components of a
battery cell;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a magnified photograph of an electrode according
to the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 3 shows a first cycle voltage plot for a silicon
fibre/PVDF/Super P composite electrode.
[0017] In overview the invention allows creation of fibres or hairs
of silicon or silicon-based material and the use of these fibres to
create both a composite anode structure with a polymer binder, an
electronic additive (if required) and a metal foil current
collector and a felt-like electrode structure. In particular it is
believed that the structure of the silicon elements that make up
the composite overcomes the problem of charge/discharge capacity
loss.
[0018] By laying down the fibres in a composite or felt or a
felt-like structure, that is a plurality of elongate or long thin
fibres which crossover to provide multiple intersections, for
example by being laid down in a random or disordered or indeed
ordered manner, the problem of charge/discharge capacity loss is
reduced.
[0019] Typically the fibres will have a length to diameter ratio of
approximately 100:1 and hence in an anode layer such as a composite
anode layer, each fibre will contact other fibres many times along
their length giving rise to a configuration where the chance of
mechanical isolation arising from broken silicon contacts is
negligible. Also, the insertion and removal of lithium into the
fibres, although causing volume expansion and volume contraction,
does not cause the fibres to be destroyed and hence the intra-fibre
electronic conductivity is preserved.
[0020] The fibres may be manufactured by detaching pillars from a
substrate. In addition the manner of fabrication of the pillars may
be provided by a simple repeatable chemical process.
[0021] One manner in which the pillars can be made is by dry
etching, for example deep reactive ion etching of the type, for
example, described in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/049,736 which is
commonly assigned herewith and incorporated herein by reference.
The skilled person will be familiar with the process such that
detailed description is not required here. Briefly, however, a
silicon substrate coated in native oxide is etched and washed so as
to give a hydrophilic surface. Caesium chloride (CsCl) is
evaporated on the surface and the coated substrate is transferred
under dry conditions to a chamber of fixed water vapour pressure. A
thin film of CsCl develops into an island array of hemispheres
whose dimensional characteristics depend on initial thickness,
water vapour pressure and time of development. The island array
provides an effective mask after which etching is carried out for
example by reactive ion etching leaving an array of pillars
corresponding to the hemispherical islands. The CsCl resist layer
is highly soluble in water and can be readily washed away.
[0022] Alternatively the pillars can be made by wet etching/using a
chemical galvanic exchange method for example as described in our
co-pending application GB 0601318.9 with common assignees and
entitled "Method of etching a silicon-based material", incorporated
herewith by reference. A related method which may also be used has
been disclosed in Peng K-Q, Yan, Y-J Gao, S-P, Zhu J., Adv.
Materials, 14 (2004), 1164-1167 ("Peng"); K. Peng et al, Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed., 44 2737-2742; and K. Peng et al., Adv. Funct.
Mater., 16 (2006), 387-394.
[0023] In the preferred embodiment pillars of for example 100
microns in length and 0.2 microns in diameter are fabricated on and
from a silicon substrate. More generally pillars of length in the
range of 20 to 300 microns and diameter or largest transverse
dimension in the range of 0.08 to 0.5 microns may be used to
provide the fibres. According to the process the silicon substrate
may be n- or p-type and, according to the chemical approach, and
may be etched on any exposed (100) or (110) crystal face. Since the
etching proceeds along crystal planes, the resulting fibres are
single crystals. Because of this structural feature, the fibres
will be substantially straight facilitating length to diameter
ratio of approximately 100:1 and, when in a composite anode layer,
allowing each fibre to contact other fibres many times along their
length. The etching process can also be carried out either on very
large scale integration (VLSI) electronic grade wafers or rejected
samples of the same (single crystal wafers). As a cheaper
alternative, photovoltaic grade polycrystalline material, as used
for solar panels, may also be used.
[0024] In order to detach the pillars to obtain the fibres, the
substrate, with pillars attached, is placed in a beaker or any
appropriate container, covered in an inert liquid such as ethanol
and subjected to ultra-sonic agitation. It is found that within
several minutes the liquid is seen to be turbid and it can be seen
by electron microscope examination that at this stage the pillars
have been removed from their silicon base.
[0025] It will be appreciated that alternative methods for
"harvesting" the pillars include scraping the substrate surface to
detach them or detaching them chemically. One chemical approach
appropriate to n-type silicon material comprises etching the
substrate in an HF solution in the presence of backside
illumination of the silicon wafer.
[0026] Once the silicon pillars have been detached they can be used
as the active material in a composite anode for lithium-ion
electrochemical cells. To fabricate a composite anode, the
harvested silicon is filtered from solution and can be mixed with
polyvinylidene difluoride and made into a slurry with a casting
solvent such as n-methyl pyrrolidinone. This slurry can then be
applied or coated onto a metal plate or metal foil or other
conducting substrate for example physically with a blade or in any
other appropriate manner to yield a coated film of the required
thickness and the casting solvent is then evaporated from this film
using an appropriate drying system which may employ elevated
temperatures in the range of 50 degrees C. to 140 degrees C. to
leave the composite film free or substantially from casting
solvent. The resulting mat or composite film has a porous and/or
felt-like structure in which the mass of silicon fibres is
typically between 70 percent and 95 percent. The composite film
will have a percentage pore volume of 10-30 percent, preferably
about 20 percent.
[0027] An SEM of a composite electrode structure obtained by the
method set out above is shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively a felt or
felt-like structure may be produced as a sheet material (not
necessarily on a current collector) and act as its own current
collector.
[0028] Fabrication of the lithium-ion battery cell thereafter can
be carried out in any appropriate manner for example following the
general structure shown in FIG. 1 but with a silicon or silicon
based active anode material rather than a graphite active anode
material. For example the silicon fibres-based composite anode
layer is covered by the porous spacer 18, the electrolyte added to
the final structure saturating all the available pore volume. The
electrolyte addition is done after placing the electrodes in an
appropriate casing and may include vacuum filling of the anode to
ensure the pore volume is filled with the liquid electrolyte.
[0029] Please see the following examples:
[0030] 0.0140 g of silicon fibres were weighed out into a 2
cm.sup.2 Eppendorf centrifuge tube, and 0.0167 g of Super P
conductive carbon was added. N-methyl pyrrolidinone (NMP) was then
pipetted into the tube, until all the materials were dispersed
(0.92 g). Previously, PVDF had been dissolved in NMP, at 7.8 wt %
PVDF. A quantity of this solution was added to the tube, containing
0.0074 g of PVDF. The mix composition was thus Si:PVDF:Super
P=85.3:4.5:10.1 wt %.
[0031] The tube was placed in an ultrasonic bath for one hour, to
homogenise the mixture, and then stirred for a further hour. The
slurry was then coated onto 14 .mu.m copper foil, using a doctor
blade with a blade gap of 0.8 mm. The coating was then dried in an
oven at 100.degree. C. for one hour, to evaporate the NMP solvent.
After drying, the thickness of the coated layer was 30-40 .mu.m.
FIG. 2 shows an SEM of a similar mix and coating, with no Super P
carbon.
[0032] The coating was lightly rolled, and then electrode disks
were cut out with a diameter of 12 mm. These were assembled into
electrochemical cells in an argon filled glove box. The counter
electrode and reference electrode were both lithium metal. The
electrolyte was LiPF.sub.6 in a mixture of organic carbonates. The
cell was tested on a VMP3 device. After a thirty minute soak, the
cell was held at -0.1 mA for one hour, and then at -0.2 mA until
the required lithiation capacity was achieved. The electrode was
then delithiated at +0.2 mA, up to a voltage of 1.0 V vs.
Li/Li.sup.+. FIG. 3 shows the cell voltage during this first
cycle.
[0033] A particular advantage of the approach described herein is
that large sheets of silicon-based anode can be fabricated, rolled
if necessary, and then slit or stamped out subsequently as is
currently the case in graphite-based anodes for lithium-ion battery
cells meaning that the approach described herein can be retrofitted
with the existing manufacturing capability.
[0034] A further advantage of the arrangement described herein is
that the structural strength in fact increases with each recharging
operation. This is because the fibres are found to "weld" to one
another as a result of the disrupted crystalline structure at the
fibre junctions creating an amorphous structure. This in turn
reduces the risk of capacity loss over multiple cycles as there is
less risk of mechanical isolation of the fibres once the fibres
become connected in the manner described above.
[0035] It will be appreciated, of course, that any appropriate
approach can be adopted in order to arrive at the approaches and
apparatus described above. For example the pillar detaching
operation can comprise any of a shaking, scraping, chemical or
other operation as long as pillars are removed from the substrate
to create fibres. Reference to silicon-based material includes
silicon where appropriate. The fibres can have any appropriate
dimension and can for example be pure silicon or doped silicon or
other silicon-based material such as a silicon-germanium mixture or
any other appropriate mixture. The substrate from which pillars are
created may be n- or p-type, ranging from 100 to 0.001 Ohm cm, or
it may be a suitable alloy of silicon, for example
Si.sub.xGe.sub.1-x. The fibres can be used for any appropriate
purpose such as fabrication of electrodes generally including
cathodes. The cathode material can be of any appropriate material,
typically a lithium-based metal oxide or phosphate material such as
LiCoO.sub.2, LiMn.sub.xNi.sub.xCo.sub.1-2xO.sub.2 or LiFePO.sub.4.
The features of different embodiments can be interchanged or
juxtaposed as appropriate and the method steps performed in any
appropriate order.
* * * * *