US-20260128291-A1 - ELECTRODE AND RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM BATTERY INCLUDING THE SAME

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery, containing an electrode current collector, and a multi-layered active material layer. The multi-layered active material layer includes a first active material layer, a second active material layer, and a third active material layer, which are stacked on the electrode current collector. The first active material layer includes a first active material, and the third active material layer includes a second active material. The second active material layer includes first regions that include the first active material, and second regions that include the second active material. The first regions and the 10 second regions are alternatively arranged along a first direction, the first regions extend parallel to each other in a second direction that crosses the first direction, and the second regions extend parallel to each other in the second direction.

Inventors

• JeongJoo PARK
• Hyun Nam
• Jung Ock YEOU
• Jin Seok Park
• Minho Lee
• Min-young JEONG

Assignees

• SAMSUNG SDI CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251103

Priority Date

20241104

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery, the electrode comprising: an electrode current collector; and a multi-layered active material layer on the electrode current collector, wherein the multi-layered active material layer includes a first active material layer, a second active material layer, and a third active material layer, which are stacked on the electrode current collector, the first active material layer includes a first active material, the third active material layer includes a second active material, the second active material layer includes: first regions including the first active material; and second regions including the second active material, the first regions and the second regions are alternately arranged along a first direction, the first regions extend parallel to each other in a second direction crossing the first direction, the second regions extend in the second direction parallel to each other, the third active material layer has a larger porosity than the second active material layer, and the second active material layer has a larger porosity than the first active material layer.
2. 2 . The electrode of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first active material layer, the second active material layer, and the third active material layer further comprises a binder, and a conductive material, and an amount of the conductive material in the second active material layer is about 3 times to about 10 times greater than an amount of the conductive material in the first active material layer or the third active material layer.
3. 3 . The electrode of claim 2 , wherein the amount of the conductive material in the first active material layer and the third active material layer is in a range of about 0.001 wt % to about 0.5 wt %.
4. 4 . The electrode of claim 2 , wherein the amount of the conductive material in the second active material layer is in a range of about 1 wt % to about 5 wt %.
5. 5 . The electrode of claim 2 , wherein the conductive material comprises at least one of natural graphite, artificial graphite, carbon black, acetylene black, ketjen black, a carbon fiber, a carbon nanofiber, and a carbon nanotube.
6. 6 . The electrode of claim 2 , wherein the binder comprises at least one of a rubber-based binder, an acrylate-based binder, a polyvinylidene fluoride-based binder, a polyvinyl pyrrolidone-based binder, an acetate-based binder, a polyvinyl alcohol-base binder, and a cellulose-based binder.
7. 7 . The electrode of claim 1 , wherein an average particle diameter (D 50 ) of the first active material is smaller than an average particle diameter (D 50 ) of the second active material, the first active material has the average particle diameter (D 50 ) in a range of about 2 μm to about 30 μm, and the second active material has the average particle diameter (D 50 ) in a range of about 10 μm to about 50 μm.
8. 8 . The electrode of claim 1 , wherein the first active material and the second active material are each independently represented by Formula 1 below: wherein, in Formula 1 above, 0.5 ≤ x ⁢ 4 ≤ 1.8 , 0 ≤ a ≤ 0.05 , 0 < y ≤ 1 , 0 ≤ z ≤ 1 , and ⁢ 0 ≤ y + z ≤ 1 , M 1 , M 2 and M 3 each independently comprises one or more of Ni, Co, Mn, Al, B, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cr, Fe, Mo, Nb, Si, Sr, Mg, Ti, V, W, Zr or La, and a combination thereof, and X comprises one or more of from F, S, P, or Cl.
9. 9 . The electrode of claim 1 , wherein a volume ratio of the first regions to the second regions is in a range of about 1:9 to about 9:1.
10. 10 . The electrode of claim 1 , wherein the second active material layer has a thickness in a range of about 30% to about 70% with respect to one of the first active material layer and the third active material layer.
11. 11 . An electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery, the electrode comprising: an electrode current collector; a first active material layer on the electrode current collector; and a second active material layer on the first active material layer, wherein the first active material layer includes: first regions including a first active material; and second regions including a second active material, the first regions and the second regions are alternatively arranged along a first direction, the first regions extend parallel to each other in a second direction crossing the first direction, the second regions extend in the second direction parallel to each other, the second active material layer includes the second active material, and the second active material layer has a lower rolled density than the first active material layer.
12. 12 . The electrode of claim 11 , wherein the second active material layer has a larger porosity than the first active material layer.
13. 13 . The electrode of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first active material layer and the second active material layer further comprises a binder and a conductive material, and an amount of the conductive material in the first active material layer is in a range of about 3 times to about 10 times greater than an amount of the conductive material in the second active material layer.
14. 14 . The electrode of claim 13 , wherein an amount of the conductive material in the first active material layer is in a range of about 1 wt % to about 5 wt %.
15. 15 . The electrode of claim 13 , wherein the conductive material comprises at least one of natural graphite, artificial graphite, carbon black, acetylene black, ketjen black, a carbon fiber, a carbon nanofiber, and a carbon nanotube, and the binder comprises at least one of a rubber-based binder, an acrylate-based binder, a polyvinylidene fluoride-based binder, a polyvinylpyrrolidone-based binder, an acetate-based binder, a polyvinyl alcohol-based binder, and a cellulose-based binder.
16. 16 . The electrode of claim 11 , wherein an average particle diameter (D 50 ) of the first active material is smaller than an average particle diameter (D 50 ) of the second active material, the average particle diameter (D 50 ) of the first active material is in a range of about 2 μm to about 30 μm, and the average particle diameter (D 50 ) of the second active material is in a range of about 10 μm to about 50 μm.
17. 17 . The electrode of claim 11 , wherein the first active material and the second active material are each independently represented by Formula 1 below: wherein, in Formula 1 above, 0.5 ≤ x ⁢ 4 ≤ 1.8 , 0 ≤ a ≤ 0.05 , 0 < y ≤ 1 , 0 ≤ z ≤ 1 , and ⁢ 0 ≤ y + z ≤ 1 , M 1 , M 2 and M 3 each independently comprises one or more of Ni, Co, Mn, Al, B, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cr, Fe, Mo, Nb, Si, Sr, Mg, Ti, V, W, Zr or La, and a combination thereof, and X comprises one or more of F, S, P or Cl.
18. 18 . The electrode of claim 11 , wherein a volume ratio of the first regions to the second regions is in a range of about 1:9 to about 9:1.
19. 19 . The electrode of claim 11 , wherein the first active material layer has a thickness in a range of about 30% to about 70% with respect to the second active material layer.
20. 20 . A rechargeable lithium battery comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; a separator between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and an electrolyte solution, wherein at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode comprises the electrode according to claim 1 .

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0154273, filed on Nov. 4, 2024, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND The present disclosure herein relates to an electrode, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the electrode. With increasing presence of electronic devices that use batteries, such as, e.g., mobile phones, laptop computers, electric vehicles, and the like, the demand for rechargeable batteries with high energy density and high capacity is increasing. Accordingly, improving the performance of lithium rechargeable batteries may be advantageous. A rechargeable lithium battery includes a positive electrode and a negative electrode containing active materials capable of intercalation and deintercalation of lithium ions, and an electrolyte solution, and produces electrical energy through oxidation and reduction reactions while lithium ions are intercalated into and deintercalated from the positive electrode and negative electrode. SUMMARY Examples of the present disclosure describe an electrode having improved capacity characteristics and lifespan characteristics. Other examples of the present disclosure describe a rechargeable lithium battery including the electrode. An electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery according to an example concept of the present disclosure may include an electrode current collector, and a multi-layered active material layer on the electrode current collector, wherein the multi-layered active material layer may include a first active material layer, a second active material layer, and a third active material layer, which are stacked, e.g., sequentially stacked on the electrode current collector, the first active material layer may include a first active material, the third active material layer may include a second active material. The second active material layer may include first regions including the first active material, and second regions including the second active material, the first regions and the second regions may be alternately arranged along a first direction, the first regions may extend parallel to each other in a second direction crossing the first direction, the second regions may extend parallel to each other in the second direction. The third active material layer may have a larger porosity than the second active material layer, and the second active material layer may have a larger porosity than the first active material layer. An electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery according to another example concept of the present disclosure may include an electrode current collector, a first active material layer on the electrode current collector, and a second active material layer on the first active material layer. The first active material layer may include first regions including a first active material, and second regions including a second active material. The first regions and the second regions may be alternatively arranged along a first direction, the first regions may extend parallel to each other in a second direction crossing the first direction, and the second regions may extend parallel to each other in the second direction. The second active material layer may include the second active material, and the second active material layer may have a lower rolled density than the first active material layer. A rechargeable lithium battery according to another example concept of the present disclosure may include a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and an electrolyte solution, wherein at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode may include the electrode discussed above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate example embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, explain principles of the present disclosure. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a rechargeable lithium battery according to example embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 are schematic diagrams illustrating rechargeable lithium batteries according to example embodiments, in which FIG. 2 may be a cylindrical battery, FIG. 3 may be a prismatic battery, and FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 may be pouch-type batteries; FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery according to example embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view for describing an electrode for a rechargeable battery according to example embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 is an enlarged view for describing an electrode according to example embodime