Patent Application: US-66596808-A

Abstract:
the present invention concerns a carbon coated lithium metal phosphate material containing a manganese oxide layer between the limnpo4 material or the c / limn 1 - x z x po 4 material , where z = fe , co , ni , mg , ca , al , zr , v , ti and x = 0 . 01 - 0 . 3 , and the carbon layer .

Description:
the present invention will be described in detail with examples supported by figures . fig1 shows raman spectra of all measured samples excited by 514 . 5 nm laser . fig2 shows raman spectra of limnpo 4 grounded with carbon black under argon and dry condition , compared to pure limnpo 4 , c / limnpo 4 ( 703061 - p - bx2 - 230 ) and pure hausmannite . fig3 shows the electrochemical performances of carbon coated limnpo 4 active material prepared according to the invention and a comparison to a mixture of limnpo 4 and carbon known from the prior art . table 2 summarizes raman bands of the measured samples and comparison to the literature . the bands assignment : ν 2 a ν 4 — symmetric and asymmetric bend of po 4 , ν 1 a ν 3 — symmetric and asymmetric stretch of po 4 ; intensities : vw — very weak , w — weak , m — medium , s — strong . in a first step , pure limnpo 4 ( 703061 - p ) was prepared by a process known from the prior art . for example , the international patent application wo 2007 / 049815 disclosed a method for manufacturing limnpo 4 having an excellent crystalline and a high purity . an other example of process is disclosed in the international patent application wo 2007 / 113624 and described “ polyol ” synthesis of pure limnpo 4 . the limnpo 4 / carbon composite ( 703061 - p - bx3 ) was obtained by high energy milling of limnpo 4 with carbon black under air atmosphere . 16 g of powder of limnpo 4 and 4 g of carbon black ( ketjenblack ec - 600 - jd — ssa ≈ 1500 m 2 / g ) was placed in a 250 ml stainless steel container . a high energy milling with a planetary ball mill ( retsch pm4000 ) using 9 stainless steel balls of 20 mm diameter was applied for four hours under air atmosphere . the speed of milling was fixed to 300 rpm . a composite of limnpo 4 / carbon composite was then obtained . the limnpo 4 / carbon composite ( 703061 - p - bx1 ) was prepared by high energy milling under air and humidified conditions ( 3 . 2 % of water ). alternatively lioh water solution can be used . 16 g of powder of limnpo 4 , 0 . 512 ml of water and 4 g of carbon black ( ketjenblack ec - 600 - jd — ssa ≈ 1500 m 2 / g ) was placed in a 250 ml stainless steel container . a high energy milling with a planetary ball mill ( retsch pm4000 ) using 9 stainless steel balls of 20 mm diameter was applied for four hours under air atmosphere . the speed of milling was fixed to 300 rpm . a composite of limnpo 4 / carbon composite was then obtained . the limnpo 4 / carbon composite ( 703061 - p - bx1 - 230 ) was prepared by high energy milling under air and humidified conditions ( 3 . 2 % of water ) as describe in example 2 and then dried at 230 ° c . overnight . the limnpo 4 / carbon composite ( sample a ) was prepared by simple grinding of limnpo 4 with 20 weight % of carbon black under argon and then dried at 230 ° c . overnight . the limnpo 4 particles prepared as described in wo 2007 / 113624 was treated with manganese acetate water solution . the acetate was in following calcinations step by 400 ° c . decomposed to manganese oxide . the resulting limnpo 4 coated with manganese oxide layer was than coated with carbon so that the manganese oxide layer creates the interface between the active phosphate layer and carbon . a positive electrode composition of limnpo 4 / carbon composite active material as described in example 4 was prepared by mixing of the active material ( composite ) with graphite ( ks4 from timcal ) and a binder ( polyvinylidene difluoride — pvdf ) with the mass ratio ( 87 . 5 : 5 : 7 . 5 ), in n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidinon . the slurry was then coated on a carbon precoated aluminium foil , serving as the current collector . the n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidinon was subsequently evaporated under vacuum at 80 ° c . overnight . the electrode was then dry at 160 ° c . overnight under vacuum . micro - raman analyses of the materials according to the invention were performed on a multichannel renishaw in via reflex spectrometer coupled with a peltier - cooled ccd detector . excitation was provided by the 785 nm line of a diode laser or 514 . 5 nm line of the ar + laser . the samples were scanned from 100 to 3700 cm − 1 wavenumber shift at a spectral resolution of 2 cm − 1 . calibration has been carried out using the si mode at 520 . 2 cm − 1 . the scanning parameter for each raman spectrum was taken usually as 10 seconds and 10 ( for pure samples ) to 30 ( for samples with acetylene black ) scans were accumulated for each experimental run to provide better signal - to - noise ratios . multiple spot analyses were carried out on different regions of the same sample to check for spectral reproducibility . the three samples obtained according to examples 1 to 3 were compared to samples prepared following a process known from the prior art , these samples being without carbon ( pure limnpo 4 ). the raman spectra of all studied samples are shown in fig1 and fig2 . the spectra of limnpo 4 are normalized for the intensity of the ν 1 band of po 4 at 945 cm − 1 . the main bands of the measured samples and comparison to literature data are given in table 2 . the spectrum of pure limnpo 4 prepared by polyol synthesis ( 703061 - p ) reveals raman bands characteristic for this olivine - type structure 1 . the strongest band in the spectrum centred at ca . 945 cm − 1 is assigned as the ν 1 symmetric stretching vibration of the po 4 tetrahedron . in the 1000 - 1100 cm − 1 region weak bands can be assigned as ν 3 antisymmetric stretching vibrations of the po 4 tetrahedron ( 1003 , 1015 , 1061 and 1075 cm − 1 ). in the low to mid - frequency region ( bellow 700 cm − 1 ) bending vibrations of the po 4 tetrahedron appear , namely ν 2 ( symmetric ) at 412 and 438 cm − 1 and ν 4 ( antisymmetric ) at 620 , 586 and 575 cm − 1 . very weak bands bellow 400 cm − 1 belongs to mn — o external modes and lattice vibrations . the li - involving motions are not allowed in raman , since the li cations in limnpo 4 occupy the 4a sites with c i symmetry 1 . the raman spectra of the other two pure limnpo 4 samples ( 703061 - p - bx2 and 703061 - p - bx2 - 230 ) show a minor contamination with carbon , as documented by weak broad bands centred at ca . 1350 and 1600 cm − 1 , corresponding to d and g bands , respectively of disordered carbon . despite that , the positions and relative intensities of the limnpo 4 bands remain unchanged . as can be seen in the fig1 , the spectra of limnpo 4 - carbon composite ( limnpo 4 — c ) samples show the presence of at least 3 distinct phases : disordered carbon with d and g bands centred at ca . 1350 and 1600 cm − 1 , respectively . limnpo 4 with the bands as stated above for the phase pure material . unknown phase ( s ) characterized mainly by the presence of a strong band at 650 - 665 cm − 1 ( the exact position depends on a particulate grain and especially on the laser power ) and weak bands at ca . 315 , 370 , 475 , 525 and 720 cm − 1 . in the higher frequency region a new band at ca . 1040 cm − 1 appears . as can be seen from fig1 and table 2 , the band positions of mn 3 o 4 hausmannite correspond exactly to most of those of the unknown phase in limnpo 4 / c . comparison to literature data supports this assignment , the variation in the 655 cm − 1 band position ( mn π — o stretching vibration ) was observed previously 22 - 24 . however , mn 3 o 4 is known to be one of the most stable manganese oxides under the laser beam , therefore the presence of e . g . β - mno 2 ( pyrolusite ) mno ( manganosit ), mnooh ( groutit ) or mn1 . 85o . 6h 2 o ( birnessite ) can not be excluded . the remaining unassigned bands in the spectra of limnpo 4 / c at ca . 525 and 715 cm − 1 may be attributed to these oxides 3 . so , the three samples prepared according to the invention ( examples 1 to 3 ) show an intermediate layer constituted of manganese oxide . in fact , the presence of a third phase ( besides limnpo 4 and carbon black ) is unambiguously evidenced from the presented data and also from our previous measurements on different sample batches . a clear increase of the intensity of the band at 655 cm − 1 may be observed in the series : 703061 - p - bx3 ( example 1 )→ 703061 - p - bx3 - 230 ( dried condition , dried at 230 ° c . )→ 703061 - p - bx1 ( example 2 )→ 703061 - p - bx1 - 230 ( example 3 ), which means that the relative content of the unknown phase is the higher for the samples ball - milled in humid conditions ( example 2 ) and also higher when dried at 230 ° c . overnight ( example 3 ). the materials described in the present invention were used to formulate a cathode electrode . the electrode for electrochemical testing was prepared by tape casting a n - methyl pyrrolidone ( nmp ) slurry of the limnpo 4 / c material ( 90 wt %) with poly ( vinylidene fluoride ) ( pvdf ) binder ( 5 wt %) and acetylene black ( 5 wt %) on an aluminium current collector . after drying at 160 ° c . under vacuum , the electrodes were compressed into 23 mm φ disks with a thickness of 50 - 60 μm , the active material loading being 8 mg / cm 2 . the cells were assembled in swagelok ™ fittings using li metal foil as the counter electrode with a microporous polymer separator ( celgard 2400 ™) and liquid electrolyte mixtures containing 1m lipf 6 in a solvent mixture of propylene carbonate ( pc ), ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and dimethyl carbonate ( dmc ) ( 1 : 1 : 3 by volume ). the electrochemical properties of limnpo 4 electrodes were measured by galvanostatic charge / discharge and cyclic voltammetry using an arbin bt 2000 electrochemical measurement system . in the fig3 can be seen the electrochemical performance at different discharging rates for the three samples according to examples 1 to 3 . these samples were compared to a sample a which is a mixture of limnpo 4 and carbon ( no coating process ) prepared following a process known from the prior art . as can be seen from fig3 , the limnpo 4 / c cathode material of curve 1 prepared as show in the comparative example which contains no detectable manganese oxide ( haussmanite ) see fig2 at the limnpo 4 / carbon interface shows very low electrochemical performance . limnpo 4 / c cathode materials according to the invention are shown in curves 2 - 4 . the material realized according to example 2 show electrochemical performance superior to the one prepared according to the example 1 . the material realized according to example 3 show electrochemical performance superior to the one prepared according to the example 2 . so , the electrochemical performances of the three samples ( examples 1 to 3 ) having an increasing concentration of manganese oxides ( hausmannite ) as detected in fig1 are improved . we can conclude that the limnpo 4 / c material prepared by high energy milling both under air and wet conditions and then dried at 230 ° c . 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