Polyplus Battery Company, Inc.

Vitaliy Nimon

Steven J Visco

Yevgeniy S Nimon

Bruce D Katz

Lutgard C De Jonghe

Alexei Petrov

Richard L Swisher

Valentina Loginova

Ian Wogan

Nikolay Goncharenko

Yury Mironovich Volfkovich

Daniil Bograchev

An intermediary solid electrolyte structure having a Li ion conducting solid electrolyte layer covered with a thin as-deposited lithium phosphorus nitride film. A surface protected solid electrolyte having a solid electrolyte layer having a first major surface that is covered by a composite protective film, the composite protective film having a lithium phosphorus material component and a phosphorus nitride material component. A physical vapor deposition target for the deposition of a composite protective film, the target having a compacted composite material target having a mosaic structure. Methods of making thin films.

Binary phosphorus nitride protective solid electrolyte intermediary structures for electrode assemblies

Battery component structures and manufacturing methods for solid-state battery cells include a unitary Li ion conducting sulfide glass solid electrolyte structure that serves as the basic building block around which a solid-state battery cell can be fabricated. The unitary glass structure approach can leverage precision controlled high throughput processes from the semiconductor industry that have been inventively modified as disclosed herein for processing a sulfide glass solid electrolyte substrate into a unitary Li ion conducting glass structure, for example, by using etching and lithographic photoresist formulations and methods. The glass substrate may be precision engineered to effectuate a dense glass portion and a porous glass portion that can be characterized as sublayers having predetermined thicknesses. The porous glass sublayer includes a plurality of discrete substantially vertical closed-end holes or trenches that are precision engineered into one or both major substrate surfaces using microfabrication processes.

Glass solid electrolyte layer, methods of making glass solid electrolyte layer and electrodes and battery cells thereof

An ionically conductive glass (or glassy) monolithic preform having a certain shape, size, and dimension may be made from a monolithic precursor material (e.g., an ingot or boule of ion conductive glass), generally of a different shape and size.

Ionically conductive glass preform

Chemically treating ionically conductive sulfide glass solid electrolyte separators or separator layers can improve performance. In particular, treatment involving chemically etching a surface or surface region of the sulfide glass separator to blunt, lessen or remove edge defects or surface flaws, and/or to enhance surface smoothness is cost effective, reliable and well suited for high production environments compared to physical methods of removing scratches or smoothing surfaces, such as mechanical grinding and polishing.

Surface treatment of a sulfide glass solid electrolyte layer

Preparation of anhydrous lithium sulfide (LiS) purified suitably for applications in advanced batteries, and, in particular, for synthesis of solid electrolytes based on LiS, including sulfide solid electrolytes of the type that may be described as crystalline (e.g., polycrystalline), amorphous (e.g., glass) and combinations thereof, such as sulfide glass-ceramic solid electrolyte materials.

Lithium ion conducting sulfide glass fabrication

A lithium ion-conductive solid electrolyte including a freestanding inorganic vitreous sheet of sulfide-based lithium ion conducting glass is capable of high performance in a lithium metal battery by providing a high degree of lithium ion conductivity while being highly resistant to the initiation and/or propagation of lithium dendrites. Such an electrolyte is also itself manufacturable, and readily adaptable for battery cell and cell component manufacture, in a cost-effective, scalable manner. An automated machine based system, apparatus and methods assessing and inspecting the quality of such vitreous solid electrolyte sheets, electrode sub-assemblies and lithium electrode assemblies can be based on spectrophotometry and can be performed inline with fabricating the sheet or web (e.g., inline with drawing of the vitreous Li ion conducting glass) and/or with the manufacturing of associated electrode sub-assemblies and lithium electrode assemblies and battery cells.

Making and inspecting a web of vitreous lithium sulfide separator sheet and lithium electrode assemblies and battery cells

Batteries, component structures and manufacturing methods, in particular including a glassy embedded battery electrode assembly having a composite material structure composed of interpenetrating material components including a porous electroactive network including a solid electroactive material, and a continuous glassy medium including a Li ion conducting sulfide glass, can achieve enhanced power output, reduced charging time and/or improved cycle life.

Glassy embedded solid-state electrode assemblies, solid-state batteries and methods of making electrode assemblies and solid-state batteries

A lithium ion-conductive solid electrolyte including a freestanding inorganic vitreous sheet of sulfide-based lithium ion conducting glass is capable of high performance in a lithium metal battery by providing a high degree of lithium ion conductivity while being highly resistant to the initiation and/or propagation of lithium dendrites. Such an electrolyte is also itself manufacturable, and readily adaptable for battery cell and cell component manufacture, in a cost-effective, scalable manner.

Vitreous solid electrolyte sheets of Li ion conducting sulfur-based glass and associated structures, cells and methods

A lithium ion-conductive solid electrolyte including a freestanding inorganic vitreous sheet of sulfide-based lithium ion conducting glass is capable of high performance in a lithium metal battery. Such an electrolyte is also manufacturable, and readily adaptable for battery cell and cell component manufacture, in a cost-effective, scalable manner using an automated machine based system, apparatus and methods based on inline spectrophotometry to assess and inspect the quality of such vitreous solid electrolyte sheets and associated components. Suitable manufacturing methods can involve multi-stage thinning of a sulfide glass preform that includes a first thinning operation that involves applying a compressive force onto the preform to form a glass sheet and a second thinning operation that involves applying a tensile force on the as-formed glass sheet (e.g., drawing the sheet by pulling).

A sulfide glass solid electrolyte sheet can be protected from reaction with moisture by a thin metal layer coating converted to a thin electrochemically functional and protective compound layer. The converted protective compound layer is electrochemically functional in that it allows for through transport of lithium ions.

Methods and materials for protection of sulfide glass solid electrolytes

Methods for making solid-state laminate electrode assemblies include methods of forming a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) by ion implanting nitrogen and/or phosphorous into the glass surface by ion implantation.

Treating sulfide glass surfaces and making solid state laminate electrode assemblies

A lithium ion-conductive solid electrolyte including a freestanding inorganic vitreous sheet of sulfide-based lithium ion conducting glass is capable of high performance in a lithium metal battery. Such an electrolyte is also manufacturable, and readily adaptable for battery cell and cell component manufacture, in a cost-effective, scalable manner using an automated machine based system, apparatus and methods based on inline spectrophotometry to assess and inspect the quality of such vitreous solid electrolyte sheets and associated components. Suitable manufacturing methods can involve providing a sulfur precursor, providing a boron precursor material having lithium as a second constituent, combining the sulfur and boron precursor materials to form a precursor mixture, melting the mixture, and cooling the melt to form a solid lithium ion conducting glass. The glass may have a Li+ conductivity of at least 10S/cm. The boron precursor material may be synthesized by reducing boron oxide to boron metal by heating the boron oxide in direct contact with lithium metal.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Vitaliy Nimon