COMPOUND

Abstract

A compound of the general formula: wherein x is equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.325 and y is equal to or greater than 0.05 and equal to or less than 0.35. In another embodiment, x is equal to zero and y is greater than 0.12 and equal to or less than 0.4. The compound is also formulated into a positive electrode for use in an electrochemical cell.

Claims

1. A compound of the general formula: ${\mathrm{Li}}_{\left(\frac{4}{3}-\frac{2.Math.x}{3}-\frac{y}{3}\right)}.Math.{\mathrm{Ni}}_x.Math.{\mathrm{Co}}_y.Math.{\mathrm{Mn}}_{\left(\frac{2}{3}-\frac{x}{3}-\frac{2.Math.y}{3}\right)}.Math.O_2$ wherein x has a value equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.325; and y has a value equal to or greater than 0.05 and equal to or less than 0.35.

2. The compound of claim 1, wherein x has a value equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.275; and y has a value equal to or greater than 0.1 and equal to or less than 0.35.

3. The compound of claim 2, wherein the value of x+y is equal to or greater than 0.3.

4. The compound of claim 2, wherein x and y both are greater than 0.13.

5. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.175, y has a value equal to or greater than 0.2 and equal to or less than 0.35.

6. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.2, y has a value equal to or greater than 0.15 and equal to or less than 0.3.

7. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.225, y has a value equal to or greater than 0.1 and equal to or less than 0.25.

8. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.25, y has a value equal to or greater than 0.05 and equal to or less than 0.2, preferably y has a value equal to or greater than 0.1 and equal to or less than 0.2.

9. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.275, y has a value equal to or greater than 0.05 and equal to or less than 0.15, preferably y has a value equal to 0.15.

10. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.3, y has a value equal to or greater than 0.05 and equal to or less than 0.1.

11. The compound of claim 2, wherein when x is 0.325, y has a value equal to 0.05.

12. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.05, x has a value equal to or greater than 0.25 and equal to or less than 0.325.

13. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.1, x has a value equal to or greater than 0.225 and equal to or less than 0.3, preferably x has a value equal to or greater than 0.225 and equal to or less than 0.25.

14. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.15, x has a value equal to or greater than 0.2 and equal to or less than 0.275.

15. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.2, x has a value equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.25.

16. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.25, x has a value equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.225.

17. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.3, x has a value equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.2.

18. The compound of claim 2, wherein when y is 0.35, x has a value equal to 0.175.

19. A compound of the general formula: ${\mathrm{Li}}_{\left(\frac{4}{3}-\frac{y}{3}\right)}.Math.{\mathrm{Co}}_y.Math.{\mathrm{Mn}}_{\left(\frac{2}{3}-\frac{2.Math.y}{3}\right)}.Math.O_2$ wherein y has a value greater than 0.12 and equal to or less than 0.4.

20. The compound of claim 19, wherein y has a value of equal to or greater than 0.2 and equal to or less than 0.3.

21. The compound of claim 19, wherein y is equal to 0.2.

22. The compound according to of claim 19, wherein y is equal to 0.3.

23. The compound of claim 19, wherein the compound is a cathode material having a layered structure.

24. The compound of claim 23, wherein the layered structure is expressed as the general formula:
aLi.sub.2MnO.sub.3. (1-a)LiCoO.sub.2 wherein a is less than 0.88.

25. The compound of claim 24, wherein a is equal or greater than 0.7 and equal to or less than 0.8.

26. The compound of claim 24, wherein the material is 0.8Li.sub.2MnO.sub.3. 0.2LiCoO.sub.2.

27. The compound of claim 24, wherein the material is 0.7Li.sub.2MnO.sub.3. 0.3LiCoO.sub.2.

28. The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound is a cathode material having a layered structure.

29. The compound of claim 28 wherein the layered structure is expressed as the general formula:
(1-a-b)Li.sub.2MnO.sub.3.aLiCoO.sub.2.bLiNi.sub.0.5Mn.sub.0.5O.sub.2 wherein a=y; and b=2x.

30. The compound of claim 29, wherein the material is 0.45Li.sub.2MnO.sub.3.0.15LiCoO.sub.2.0.4LiNi.sub.0.5Mn.sub.0.5O.sub.2.

31. The compound of claim 29, wherein the material is 0.4Li.sub.2MnO.sub.3.0.2LiCoO.sub.2.0.4LiNi.sub.0.5Mn.sub.0.5O.sub.2.

32. An electrode comprising the compound of claim 1.

33. The electrode of claim 32, wherein the electrode comprises electroactive additives and/or a polymeric binder.

34. The electrode of claim 33, wherein the electroactive additive is selected from at least one of carbon or carbon black.

35. The electrode claim 33, wherein the polymeric binder is selected from at least one of PVDF, PTFE, NaCMC or NaAlginate.

36. An electrochemical cell comprising a positive electrode of claim 32, an electrolyte, and a negative electrode.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0017] In order that the present invention may be more readily understood, embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying Figures, in which:

[0018] FIG. 1 shows powder X-ray Diffraction patterns of synthesised materials in accordance with Example 1;

[0019] FIG. 2 shows first cycle galvanostatic load curves for the synthesised materials in accordance with Example 1;

[0020] FIGS. 3A-3B show additional powder X-ray Diffraction patterns of two alternative synthesised materials in accordance with Example 1;

[0021] FIGS. 4A-4B show first cycle galvanostatic load curves for two alternative synthesised materials in accordance with Example 1, and capacity measurements over a number of cycles;

[0022] FIG. 5 shows first cycle galvanostatic load curves for comparative materials in accordance with Example 1;

[0023] FIG. 6 shows ternary contour plots capacity and energy maps during discharge for materials of the present invention at 30 C., C./10, 2-4.8 V vs. Li/Li.sup.+;

[0024] FIG. 7 shows ternary contour plots capacity and energy maps during discharge for materials of the present invention at 55 C., C./10, 2-4.8 V vs. Li/Li.sup.+; and

[0025] FIG. 8 shows ternary contour plots gas loss maps during discharge for materials of the present invention at 30 C., C./10, 2-4.8 V vs. Li/Li.sup.+.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0026] The present invention will now be illustrated with reference to the following examples.

EXAMPLE 1

Synthesis of the Cobalt and Cobalt-Nickel Substituted Lithium Rich Materials

[0027] For material doped with cobalt only (i.e. x=0) the Formaldehyde-Resorcinol sol gel synthetic route was employed to synthesise materials with general formula

[00003]${\mathrm{Li}}_{\left(\frac{4}{3}-\frac{y}{3}\right)}.Math.{\mathrm{Co}}_y.Math.{\mathrm{Mn}}_{\left(\frac{2}{3}-\frac{2.Math.y}{3}\right)}.Math.O_2$

with y=0, 0.06, 0.12, 0.2 and 0.3 all the reagents ratios were calculated in order to obtain 0.01 mol of the final product.

[0028] Stoichiometric amounts of CH.sub.3COOLi.2H.sub.2O (98.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)), (CH.sub.3COO).sub.2Mn.4H.sub.2O (>99.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) and (CH.sub.3COO).sub.2Co..sub.4H.sub.2O (99.0% Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) were dissolved in 50 mL of water with 0.25 mmol of CH.sub.3COOLi.2H.sub.2O (99.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) corresponding to 5% moles of lithium with respect to the 0.01 moles of synthesized material. At the same time 0.1 mol of resorcinol (99.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) was dissolved in 0.15 mol of formaldehyde (36.5% w/w solution in water, Fluka (RTM)). Once all the reagents were completely dissolved in their respective solvents, the two solutions were mixed and the mixture was vigorously stirred for one hour. The resulting solution, containing 5% molar excess of lithium, was subsequently heated in an oil bath at 80 C. until the formation of a homogeneous white gel.

[0029] The gel was finally dried at 90 C. overnight and then heat treated at 500 C. for 15 hours and 800 C. for 20 hours.

[0030] For material doped with cobalt-nickel, The Formaldehyde-Resorcinol sol gel synthetic route was employed to synthesise materials with general formula

[00004]${\mathrm{Li}}_{\left(\frac{4}{3}-\frac{2.Math.x}{3}-\frac{y}{3}\right)}.Math.{\mathrm{Ni}}_x.Math.{\mathrm{Co}}_y.Math.{\mathrm{Mn}}_{\left(\frac{2}{3}-\frac{x}{3}-\frac{2.Math.y}{3}\right)}.Math.O_2$

with across the range x has a value equal to or greater than 0.175 and equal to or less than 0.275; and y has a value equal to or greater than 0.1 and equal to or less than 0.35. specific compositions are represented where x=0.2 y=0.2; andx=0.2 y=0.15. In addition, a comparative example of a composition where x=0.275 y=0.05 was synthesised for comparison. All the reagents ratios were calculated in order to obtain 0.01 mol of the final product.

[0031] Stoichiometric amounts of CH.sub.3COOLi.2H.sub.2O (98.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)), (CH.sub.3COO).sub.2Mn.4H.sub.2O (>99.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) (CH.sub.3COO)2Ni.4H.sub.2O (99.0% Sigma Aldrich (RTM) and (CH.sub.3COO).sub.2Co.4H.sub.2O (99.0% Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) were dissolved in 50 mL of water with 0.25 mmol of CH.sub.3COOLi.2H.sub.2O (99.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) corresponding to 5% moles of lithium with respect to the 0.01 moles of synthesized material. At the same time 0.1 mol of resorcinol (99.0%, Sigma Aldrich (RTM)) was dissolved in 0.15 mol of formaldehyde (36.5% w/w solution in water, Fluka (RTM)). Once all the reagents were completely dissolved in their respective solvents, the two solutions were mixed and the mixture was vigorously stirred for one hour. The resulting solution, containing 5% molar excess of lithium, was subsequently heated in an oil bath at 80 C. until the formation of a homogeneous white gel.

[0032] The gel was finally dried at 90 C. overnight and then heat treated at 500 C. for 15 hours and 800 C. for 20 hours.

Example 2

Structural Analysis and Characterisation of the Cobalt and Cobalt-Nickel Substituted Lithium Rich Materials

[0033] The materials according to Example 1 were examined with Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD) which was carried out utilising a Rigaku SmartLab (RTM) equipped with a 9 kW Cu rotating anode.

[0034] FIGS. 1 (cobalt doped) and 3A and 3B (nickel-cobalt doped compositions 1 and 2, respectively) show Powder X-ray Diffraction patterns of the synthesized materials. These are characteristic of layered materials with some cation ordering in the transition layer. All of the patterns appear to show the major peaks consistent with a close-packed layered structure such as LiTMO.sub.2 with a R-3m space group. Additional peaks are observed in the range 20-30 2Theta degrees which cannot be assigned to the R-3m space. The order derives from the atomic radii and charge density differences between Li.sup.+ (0.59 ), Ni.sup.+2 (0.69 ) and Mn.sup.4+ (0.83 ) and appears the strongest in the structures of the low nickel doped oxides.. The peaks are not as strong as in materials where a perfect order exists as in Li.sub.2MnO.sub.3. No presence of extra-peaks due to impurities was observed.

EXAMPLE 3

Electrochemical Analysis of the Cobalt and Cobalt-Nickel Substituted Lithium Rich Materials

[0035] All of the materials according to Example 1 were characterised electrochemically through galvanostatic cycling performed with a BioLogic VMP3 and a Maccor 4600 series potentiostats. All the samples were assembled into stainless steel coincells against metallic lithium and cycled between 2 and 4.8 V vs. Li.sup.+/Li for 100 cycles at a current rate of 50 mAg.sup.1. The electrolyte employed was LP30 (a 1M solution of LiPF.sub.6 in 1;1 w/w ratio of EC;DMC).

[0036] FIG. 2 (cobalt doped) and FIGS. 4A-4B (nickel-cobalt doped compositions 1 and 2, respectively) show the potential curves during the charge and subsequent discharge of the first cycle for materials according to Example 1. Both samples present a high voltage plateau of different lengths centered on 4.5 V vs. Li.sup.+/Li.sup.0, and a sloped region at the beginning of the charge. The length of this region may be attributed to the oxidation of nickel from Ni.sup.+2 toward Ni+.sup.4 and Co.sup.+3 toward Co.sup.+4 and appears to be in good agreement with the amount of lithium (i.e. charge) that would be extracted accounting for solely the transition metal redox activity.

[0037] During the first discharge, neither material shows the presence of a reversible plateau, indicating a difference in the thermodynamic pathways followed during the extraction (charge) and insertion (discharge) of lithium ions from/in the lattice of each sample.

[0038] For the materials of Example 1 the first cycle presents the lowest coulombic efficiency value due to the presence of the high potential plateau which is not reversible. The coulombic efficiencies appear to quickly improve from the first cycle values, around 60-80%, to values higher than 98% within the first five cycles.

[0039] Compositions demonstrating the technical benefits in accordance with the Examples and the present invention are detailed below.

TABLE-US-00001 Composition Li Mn Co Ni O 1 1.15 0.55 0.05 0.25 2 2 1.15 0.525 0.1 0.225 2 3 1.15 0.5 0.15 0.2 2 4 1.15 0.475 0.2 0.175 2 5 1.133333 0.541667 0.05 0.275 2 6 1.133333 0.516667 0.1 0.25 2 7 1.133333 0.491667 0.15 0.225 2 8 1.133333 0.466667 0.2 0.2 2 9 1.133333 0.441667 0.25 0.175 2 10 1.116667 0.533333 0.05 0.3 2 11 1.116667 0.508333 0.1 0.275 2 12 1.116667 0.483333 0.15 0.25 2 13 1.116667 0.458333 0.2 0.225 2 14 1.116667 0.433333 0.25 0.2 2 15 1.116667 0.408333 0.3 0.175 2 16 1.1 0.525 0.05 0.325 2 17 1.1 0.5 0.1 0.3 2 18 1.1 0.475 0.15 0.275 2 19 1.1 0.45 0.2 0.25 2 20 1.1 0.425 0.25 0.225 2 21 1.1 0.4 0.3 0.2 2 22 1.1 0.375 0.35 0.175 2

[0040] Compositions demonstrating higher levels of the technical benefits in accordance with the Examples and the present invention are detailed below.

TABLE-US-00002 Composition Li Mn Co Ni O 1 1.15 0.525 0.1 0.225 2 2 1.15 0.5 0.15 0.2 2 3 1.15 0.475 0.2 0.175 2 4 1.133333 0.516667 0.1 0.25 2 5 1.133333 0.491667 0.15 0.225 2 6 1.133333 0.466667 0.2 0.2 2 7 1.133333 0.441667 0.25 0.175 2 8 1.116667 0.483333 0.15 0.25 2 9 1.116667 0.458333 0.2 0.225 2 10 1.116667 0.433333 0.25 0.2 2 11 1.116667 0.408333 0.3 0.175 2 12 1.1 0.475 0.15 0.275 2 13 1.1 0.45 0.2 0.25 2 14 1.1 0.425 0.25 0.225 2 15 1.1 0.4 0.3 0.2 2 16 1.1 0.375 0.35 0.175 2

[0041] These materials were tested in accordance with the method above, and the results are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 as ternary contour plots capacity and energy maps during discharge for materials of the present invention at 30 C. and 55 C. C./10, 2-4.8 V vs. Li/Li.sup.+.

EXAMPLE 4

Gas Evolution During the First Cycle of the Nickel-Cobalt Substituted Lithium Rich Materials

[0042] One pellet of each material according to the present invention was assembled into a EL-Cell PAT-Cell-Press (RTM) single cell. All the samples were assembled versus metallic lithium and cycled from OCV to 4.8 V vs. Li+/Li and then discharged to 2V at a current rate of 50 mAg-1. The electrolyte employed was LP30 (a 1M solution of LiPF6 in 1;1 w/w ratio of EC;DMC). This cell was specifically designed to record the pressure changes within the headspace, this could then be related to the mols of gas evolved from the cathode. The pressure sensor in the cell was connected via a controller box which was linked to a computer via a USB link. This was then logged via the Datalogger and EC-Link Software provided by EL-Cell (RTM). The data was logged as Voltage, Current, time and pressure. These values could be combined through the ideal gas law to calculate the number of mols of gas evolved on cycling which could be used to calculate the volume of gas evolved under ambient conditions. The total gas loss for each material during charge was calculated and a contour plot generated as FIG. 8 which shows gas loss as a function of composition within the ternary space.