Anode material and anode for a rechargeable battery, a method of production thereof and an electrochemical cell made therefrom

Abstract

An anode material for an electrochemical cell comprises a matrix material:distributed material composite, which comprises one or more alkali metals and/or alkali earth metals. The distributed material may comprise a metal other than that of the matrix material, such as a transition and/or post transition metal. The anode material may be all or part of an anode for an electrochemical cell, which may further comprises a current collector and/or an SEI layer. The electrolyte may comprises an alkali metal and/or alkali earth metal and/or a transition metal and/or post transition metal containing electrolyte salt. The matrix material and/or the distributed material may comprise one or more of the metals of the electrolyte salt. All or part of the anode may be used as a substrate for electro-deposition of one or more matrix materials during charging and/or all or part of the anode may be used as a source of matrix material during discharging. The electrolyte may further comprise one or more electrolyte additives. The anode material may be produced by mixing a matrix material and distributed material and heating the mixture to selectively melt the matrix material to produce a matrix material:distributed material composite. The composite may be further chemically or mechanically processed to reduce the size of the distributed material and/or to increase the homogeneity of the matrix material:distributed material composite. The anode material, the anode or the electrochemical cell may be used in a device.