International Business Machines Corporation

Sk on Co., Ltd.

Daimler Ag

Central Glass Company, Limited

Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

Jangwoo Kim

Young-Hye Na

Maxwell Giammona

Robert David Allen

Ho-Cheol Kim

Andy Theodora Tek

Tobias Glossmann

Anthony Fong

Eunseok Lee

Devendra K Sadana

Joel Pereira De Souza

Gregory Breyta

John C Collins

Kazunari Takeda

Katsutoshi Suzuki

Yongku Kang

Yumi Kim

Masafumi Oda

Amaresh Samuthira Pandian

Tsubasa Itakura

Holt Bui

Sho Yamazawa

A battery includes an anode; an electrolyte including an oxidizing gas; a metal halide that functions as an active cathode material; and a solvent including a nitrile compound; and a current collector contacting the cathode material.

Rechargeable metal halide battery

A metal halide battery includes an intercalation anode, a cathode that includes a metal halide incorporated into an electrically conductive material, an oxidizing gas, and an electrolyte in contact with the intercalation anode, the cathode, and the oxidizing gas. The battery has a cycle life reaching 1000 cycles at a current density that enables the battery to charge within 10-15 minutes. Electrolytes that may be used in the metal halide batteries include (i) carbonate ester-based compounds with at least one ethyl group and an ion-conducting salt and/or (ii) at least one cyclic ester compound.

Rechargeable metal halide battery with intercalation anode

A rechargeable metal halide battery shows increased metal halide utilization with the introduction of electronegative heteroatom-enriched conductive additives into a metal halide cathode incorporated into an electrically conductive material. The electronegative heteroatom-enriched conductive additives include nitrogen-doped carbon, such as nitrogen-doped single layer graphene, and oxygen-enriched carbon, such as acid-treated carbon black. The modified batteries utilize 20-30% more metal halide than unmodified batteries resulting in enhanced specific capacity and energy density.

Metal halide cathode with enriched conductive additive

An energy storage device includes a coated anode. The coated anode includes a metallic anode in contact with an electrically non-conductive star polymer coating. The star polymers in the star polymer coating include a core with at least 3 arms attached to the core. At least some of the arms of the star polymers have ionically conductive polar functional groups. The energy storage device further includes a cathode and an electrolyte in contact with both the cathode and the coated anode.

Coated electrode for energy storage device

A rechargeable metal halide battery fabricated with a liquid nitrogen treated metallic anode demonstrates a stable cycle life with a slow rate of degradation and high discharge capacity in comparison to battery cells with untreated anodes. The anode, which may be an alkali metal and/or an alkaline earth metal, is pretreated with the liquid nitrogen prior to formation in a battery stack. The liquid nitrogen treatment forms a metal nitride on a surface of the anode that (i) increases the surface area of the anode, (ii) acts as a passivation layer that prevents detrimental SEI-forming side reactions that degrade anodes, and (iii) suppresses dendrite growth. Where the anode is lithium, the metal nitride is lithium nitride (LiN).

Method to protect a lithium metal anode in a rechargeable lithium metal battery

An energy storage device includes an anode; a cathode; an electrolyte in contact with both the anode and the cathode; and an electrically non-conductive, porous separator between the anode and the cathode. At least one major surface of the porous separator includes a coating with a layer having a star polymer. The star polymer includes a hydrophobic core and at least three arms, wherein at least some of the arms includes ion-conductive polar functional groups.

Coated separator for energy storage device

A rechargeable metal halide battery with an optimized active cathode electrolyte solution has high energy density and does not require charging following fabrication. The optimized active cathode electrolyte solution includes (i) a mixture of a metal halide and its corresponding halogen dissolved in an organic solvent at a concentration ratio greater than 0.5 and (ii) an oxidizing gas. The organic solvent is a nitrile-based compound and/or a heterocyclic compound. Glyme may be added to the organic solvent to improve battery performance.

Liquid cathode formulation for rechargeable metal halide battery

A battery includes a cathode with a metal halide and an electrically conductive material, wherein the metal halide acts as an active cathode material; a porous silicon anode with a surface having pores with a depth of about 0.5 microns to about 500 microns, and a metal on the surface and in at least some of the pores thereof; and an electrolyte contacting the anode and the cathode, wherein the electrolyte includes a nitrile moiety.

Porous silicon anode for rechargeable metal halide battery

A battery includes an anode, an electrolyte including a solvent and at least one ion conducting salt, and a cathode including a metal halide salt incorporated into an electrically conductive material. The electrolyte is in contact with the anode, the cathode, and an oxidizing gas.

Provided is a rechargeable metal halide battery with an anode; an electrolyte including (i) an oxidizing gas, (ii) a metal halide, and (iii) a heterocyclic compound solvent; and a current collector contacting the active cathode material. As the metal halide of the electrolyte acts as an active cathode material that can receive, store, and release metal ions during charging and discharging of the battery, the battery does not require a dedicated cathode. The lack of a dedicated cathode results in a rechargeable battery with high power density that is lightweight and inexpensive to make.

A thin film coating with inorganic/organic composite materials for application on a porous separator of a rechargeable metal battery cell is disclosed. The composite material, which is comprised of ion conductive ceramic particles mixed with, or embedded within a matrix of, at least one polymer comprising at least one anionic functional group and at least one metallic cation. The composite coating layer enhances the overall electrochemical performance of rechargeable metal batteries by preventing the formation of metal dendrites on the metallic anode of a metal battery cell.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Jangwoo Kim