Global Graphene Group, Inc.

Nanotek Instruments, Inc.

Honeycomb Battery Company

Yu-Sheng Su

Bor Z Jang

Aruna Zhamu

Hui He

Baofei Pan

Jun Yin

Hao-Hsun Chang

Qing Fang

Jen-Hsien Yang

Yu-Ming Chen

Minjie Li

Yen-Po Lin

Yu-Chan Yen

Provided is a battery charging system, comprising (a) at least one charging circuit to charge at least one rechargeable battery cell; and (b) a heating device to provide heat that is transported through a heat spreader element, implemented fully outside the battery cell, to heat up the battery cell to a desired temperature Tc before or during battery charging. The system may further comprise (c) a cooling device in thermal contact with the heat spreader element configured to enable transporting internal heat of the battery cell through the heat spreader element to the cooling device when the battery cell is discharged. Charging the battery at Tc enables completion of the charging of the battery in less than 15 minutes, typically less than 10 minutes, and more typically less than 5 minutes without adversely impacting the battery structure and performance. Also provided is a battery module or pack working with such a system.

Graphene-enabled battery fast-charging and cooling system and method of operating same

Provided is anode active material for use in a lithium ion battery, wherein the anode active material is capable of reversibly storing lithium ions therein up to a maximum lithium storage capacity Cduring a charge or discharge of the battery and the anode active material comprises an amount of solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) on a surface or in an internal structure of the anode active material wherein the SEI is pre-formed prior to incorporating the anode active material in an anode electrode of the battery. Also provided is a method of producing the pre-formed SEI substances in the anode material; e.g. through repeated lithiation/delithiation procedures.

Electrochemically stable anode active material for lithium-ion batteries and production method

An electrochemical battery cell comprising an anode having a primary anode active material, a cathode, and an ion-conducting electrolyte, wherein the cell has an initial output voltage, Vi, measured at 10% depth of discharge (DoD), selected from a range from 0.3 volts to 0.8 volts, and a final output voltage Vf measured at a DoD no greater than 90%, wherein a voltage variation, (Vi&#x2212;Vf)/Vi, is no greater than &#xb1;10% and the specific capacity between Vi and Vf is no less than 100 mAh/g or 200 mAh/cmbased on the cathode active material weight or volume, and wherein the primary anode active material is selected from lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), zinc (Zn), titanium (Ti), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), a mixture thereof, an alloy thereof, or a combination thereof.

Battery having a low output voltage

Provided is a rechargeable battery system comprising at least a battery cell and an external cooling means, wherein the battery cell comprises an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode, a protective housing that at least partially encloses the anode, the cathode and the electrolyte, and at least one heat-spreader element disposed partially or entirely inside the protective housing and wherein the external cooling means is in thermal contact with the heat spreader element configured to enable transporting internal heat of the battery through the heat spreader element to the external cooling means. Also provided is a method of operating a rechargeable battery system, the method comprising implementing a heat spreader element in one or each of a plurality of battery cells and bringing the heat spreader element in thermal contact with one or a plurality of external cooling means.

Temperature-regulated battery system and method of operating same

A process for producing a graphene/Si nanowire hybrid material, comprising: (a) dispersing catalyst metal-coated Si particles, graphene sheets, and an optional blowing agent in a liquid medium to form a graphene/Si dispersion; (b) dispensing and depositing the dispersion onto a supporting substrate to form a wet layer and removing the liquid medium from the wet layer to form a dried layer of graphene/Si mixture material; (c) exposing the dried layer to a high temperature environment, from 300&#xb0; C. to 2,000&#xb0; C., to induce volatile gas molecules from graphene sheets or to activate the blowing agent for producing the graphene foam and to enable a catalyst metal-catalyzed growth of multiple Si nanowires emanated from Si particles as a feed material in pores of the foam to form a layer of the hybrid material; and (d) operating a mechanical breaking means to produce the Si nanowire/graphene hybrid material in a powder mass form.

Process for producing graphene/silicon nanowire hybrid material for a lithium-ion battery

Provided is a battery charging system comprising (a) at least one charging circuit to charge at least one rechargeable battery cell; (b) a heat source to provide heat that is transported through a heat spreader element, implemented fully or partially inside said at least one battery cell, to heat up the battery cell to a desired temperature Tc before or during battery charging; and (c) cooling means in thermal contact with the heat spreader element configured to enable transporting internal heat of the battery cell through the heat spreader element to the cooling means when the battery cell is discharged. Charging the battery at Tc enables completion of the battery in less than 15 minutes, typically less than 10 minutes, and more typically less than 5 minutes without adversely impacting the battery structure and performance.

Battery fast-charging and cooling system and method of operating same

Provided is a rechargeable battery comprising an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode, a protective housing that at least partially encloses the anode, the cathode and the electrolyte, a heat-spreader element disposed at least partially inside the protective housing and configured to receive heat from an external heat source at a desired heating temperature Tto heat up the battery to a desired temperature Tc for battery charging. Preferably, the heat-spreader element does not receive an electrical current from an external circuit (e.g. battery charger) to generate heat for resistance heating of the battery. Charging the battery at Tc enables completion of the battery in less than 15 minutes, typically less than 10 minutes, and more typically less than 5 minutes without adversely impacting the battery structure and performance.

Battery fast-charging system and method of operating same

An anode for a lithium battery comprises a graphene foam structure composed of multiple pores and pore walls and Si nanowires residing in the pores. The Si nanowires are formed in situ inside the pores. The pore walls comprise a 3D network of interconnected graphene planes or stacked graphene planes having an inter-plane spacing dfrom 0.3354 nm to 0.40 nm as measured by X-ray diffraction. The Si nanowires have a diameter from 2 nm to 100 nm and a length-to-diameter aspect ratio of at least 5 and the Si nanowires are in an amount from 0.5% to 99% by weight based on the total weight of the graphene foam and the Si nanowires combined.

Lithium battery anode containing silicon nanowires formed in situ in pores of graphene foam

A lithium- or sodium-ion battery anode layer, comprising a phosphorus material embedded in pores of a solid graphene foam composed of multiple pores and pore walls, wherein (a) the pore walls contain a pristine graphene or a non-pristine graphene material; (b) the phosphorus material contains particles or coating of P or MP(M=transition metal and 1&#x2264;y&#x2264;4) and is in an amount from 20% to 99% by weight based on the total weight of the graphene foam and the phosphorus material combined, and (c) the multiple pores are lodged with particles or coating of the phosphorus material. Preferably, the solid graphene foam has a density from 0.01 to 1.7 g/cm, a specific surface area from 50 to 2,000 m/g, a thermal conductivity of at least 100 W/mK per unit of specific gravity, and/or an electrical conductivity no less than 1,000 S/cm per unit of specific gravity.

Graphene foam-protected phosphorus material for lithium-ion or sodium-ion batteries

Provided is a lithium secondary battery containing an anode, a cathode, a porous separator/electrolyte element disposed between the anode and the cathode, and a cathode-protecting layer bonded or adhered to the cathode, wherein the cathode-protecting layer comprises a lithium ion-conducting polymer matrix or binder and inorganic material particles that are dispersed in or chemically bonded by the polymer matrix or binder and wherein the cathode-protecting layer has a thickness from 10 nm to 100 &#x3bc;m and the polymer matrix or binder has a lithium-ion conductivity from 10S/cm to 5&#xd7;10S/cm. Additionally or alternatively, there can be a similarly configured anode-protecting layer adhered to the anode. Such an electrode-protecting layer prevents massive internal shorting from occurring even when the porous separator gets melted, contracted, or collapsed under extreme temperature conditions induced by, for instance, dendrite or nail penetration.

Fire-resistant lithium battery containing an electrode-protecting layer

Provided is graphene-embraced particulate for use as a lithium-ion battery anode active material, wherein the particulate comprises primary particle(s) of an anode active material and multiple sheets of a first graphene material overlapped together to embrace or encapsulate the primary particle(s) and wherein a single or a plurality of graphene-encapsulated primary particles, along with an optional conductive additive, are further embraced or encapsulated by multiple sheets of a second graphene material, wherein the first graphene and the second graphene material is each in an amount from 0.01% to 20% by weight and the optional conductive additive is in an amount from 0% to 50% by weight, all based on the total weight of the particulate. Also provided are an anode and a battery comprising multiple graphene-embraced particulates.

Multi-level graphene-protected anode active material particles for battery applications

A rechargeable lithium cell comprising a cathode, an anode, a non-flammable electrolyte, wherein the electrolyte contains a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent having a lithium salt concentration from 0.01 M to 10 M so that the electrolyte exhibits a vapor pressure less than 0.01 kPa when measured at 20&#xb0; C., a vapor pressure less than 60% of the vapor pressure of the liquid solvent alone, a flash point at least 20 degrees Celsius higher than a flash point of the liquid solvent alone, a flash point higher than 200&#xb0; C., or no flash point, wherein the liquid solvent contains a cooking oil selected from palm oil, palm olein, coconut oil, corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, rice bran oil, olive oil, sesame oil, safflower oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, grapeseed oil, walnut oil, almond oil, lard, or a combination thereof.

Lithium secondary battery containing non-flammable electrolyte and manufacturing method

Multi-level graphene-protected battery cathode active material particles

Provided is a method of producing a mass of graphene-embraced particulates, comprising (A) peeling off graphene sheets from graphite particles and directly or indirectly transferring these graphene sheets to encapsulate primary particles of an anode active material using an energy-impact device, wherein multiple graphene sheets are overlapped together to embrace or encapsulate a primary particle; and (B) combining the resulting graphene-encapsulated primary particles with additional graphene sheets, along with an optional conductive additive, to form graphene-embraced particulates. Also provided are an anode electrode comprising multiple graphene-embraced particulates and a battery comprising such an anode electrode.

Growing community of inventors

Dayton, OH, United States of America

Yu-Sheng Su