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US-20260128360-A1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENGINEERING A COATING MATERIAL DECORATED ON A CONDUCTIVE CARBON SURFACE

US20260128360A1US 20260128360 A1US20260128360 A1US 20260128360A1US-20260128360-A1

Abstract

Disclosed is an engineered coating material decorated on a conductive carbon, comprising: a coating material disposed on a surface of the conductive carbon with a partial coverage or full coverage, wherein the coating material comprises at least one material selected from a group comprising: AlO x , TiO x , SnO x , ZnO x , NbO x , TiNb x O y , AlP x O y , MgO x , LiNb x O y , BO x , CeO x , LiAl x O y , Sn(PO 4 ) x , ZrO x , MgAl x O y , SiO x , NiO x , Pt, Pd, Ir, Ru x O y , CeZr x O y , BiO x , TiN x , ZnO, ZnS, MnO 2 , NbO 2 , VS 2 , TiS 2 , CoS 2 , and Al 2 O 3 .

Inventors

  • John Chmiola
  • Taylor JURAN
  • Fabio Albano
  • Patrick Soon-Shiong

Assignees

  • NantG Power, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251229

Claims (20)

  1. 1 - 15 . (canceled)
  2. 16 . A battery comprising at least one battery cell, the at least one battery cell further comprising: an anode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material; a cathode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material including conductive carbon, the conductive carbon being coated with an engineered coating material having a partial coverage or full coverage on a conductive carbon surface; an ionically conductive separator disposed between the anode and the cathode; and an electrolyte configured to provide ionic transfer between the anode and the cathode.
  3. 17 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the partial coverage of the engineered coating material on the conductive carbon surface is in a range of 10% to 100%.
  4. 18 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the engineered coating material comprises at least one material selected from a group comprising: AlO x , TiO x , SnO x , ZnO x , NbO x , TiNb x O y , AlP x O y , MgO x , LiNbxOy, BO x , CeO x , LiAl x O y , Sn(PO 4 ) x , ZrO x , MgAl x O y , SiO x , NiO x , Pt, Pd, Ir, Ru x O y , CeZr x O y , BiO x , TiN x , ZnO, ZnS, MnO 2 , NbO 2 , VS 2 , TiS 2 , CoS 2 , and Al 2 O 3 .
  5. 19 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the battery is a lithium-sulfur battery.
  6. 20 . The battery of claim 19 , wherein the cathode further comprises a sulfur layer formed on or combined with the engineered coating material.
  7. 21 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the anode is metallic lithium.
  8. 22 . The battery of claim 21 , wherein the anode comprises at least one metallic lithium alloy selected from a group comprising: Li—Al; Li—Mg; Li—Cu; Li—Si; and Li—Sn.
  9. 23 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the conductive carbon includes carbon particles.
  10. 24 . The battery of claim 17 , wherein a surface area of the carbon particles is in the range of 50 to about 3000 m2/g.
  11. 25 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein a thickness of the engineered coating material is in the range of about 0.5 to 1.5 nm.
  12. 26 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the engineered coating material comprises at least one of: artificially introduced vacancies, artificially introduced interstitials, or artificially introduced substitutional defects.
  13. 27 . The battery of claim 16 , wherein the electrolyte comprises at least 40% of the battery cell weight.
  14. 28 . A method for forming a battery comprising at least one battery cell, the method comprising: forming an anode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material; forming a cathode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material including conductive carbon; decorating the conductive carbon with an engineered coating material having a partial coverage or full coverage on a conductive carbon surface; disposing between the anode and the cathode a separator configured to provide ionic transfer between the anode and the cathode; and forming an electrolyte configured to provide an ionic transfer between the anode and the cathode.
  15. 29 . The method of claim 28 , wherein a surface area of the carbon particles is in the range of 50 to about 3000 m2/g.
  16. 30 . The method of claim 28 , wherein a thickness of the engineered coating material is in the range of about 0.5 to 1.5 nm.
  17. 31 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the partial coverage of the engineered coating material on the conductive carbon surface is in a range of 10% to 100%.
  18. 32 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the engineered coating material comprises at least one material selected from a group comprising: AlO x , TiO x , SnO x , ZnO x , NbO x , TiNb x O y , AlP x O y , MgO x , LiNb x O y , BO x , CeO x , LiAl x O y , Sn(PO 4 ) x , ZrO x , MgAl x O y , SiO x , NiO x , Pt, Pd, Ir, Ru x O y , CeZr x O y , BiO x , TiN x , ZnO, ZnS, MnO 2 , NbO 2 , VS 2 , TiS 2 , CoS 2 , and Al 2 O 3 .
  19. 33 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the battery is a lithium-sulfur battery.
  20. 34 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the cathode further includes a sulfur layer formed on or combined with the engineered coating material.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/510,216, filed Jun. 26, 2023, entitled “Improving the Future of Electric Trucks by Utilizing Intelligently Interfacially Architectured Li—S Nanostructured Cathodes,” the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. FIELD Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present disclosure relate generally to thin film coating, more specifically, forming an engineered coating deposited on conductive carbon surface and application of the coated carbon, for example, in lithium-ion batteries. BACKGROUND Lithium-ion batteries, such as lithium-sulfur batteries, are promising rechargeable batteries. Producing high performance lithium-sulfur batteries is challenging due to the nature of the conversion reactions of long-chain lithium polysulfides (Li2Sx, 4<x<8) and low sulfur utilization. Unlike common insertion-based cathodes, such as the cathodes of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) or lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries require complete dissolution (liquification) of sulfur and reprecipitation (solidification) as Li2S. Further, the sulfur reduction reaction involves a multistep conversion, with multiple phase changes. This may cause rapid capacity decay, short battery lifetime, and low energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries relative to commercially available Lithium-ion batteries. Batteries capable of facilitating the conversion reactions of lithium polysulfides and improving sulfur utilization are desired. Many prior known efforts to develop batteries (e.g., lithium-ion batteries) based on carbon have focused on graphene, due to its high conductivity, mechanical strength, and flexibility. Yet, batteries based on graphene suffer challenges due to the production complexities and the relatively high cost of graphene. It is desirable to replace graphene with another carbon material that can overcome these challenges while providing advantageous properties for batteries. SUMMARY A first embodiment of the present disclosure includes an engineered coating formed on a conductive carbon, comprising: a coating material disposed on a surface of the conductive carbon either partially or fully covering the carbon particle surface, wherein the coating material comprises at least one material selected from a group comprising: AlOx, TiOx, SnOx, ZnOx, NbOx, TiNbxOy, AlPxOy, MgOx, LiNbxOy, BOx, CeOx, LiAlxOy, Sn(PO4)x, ZrOx, MgAlxOy, SiOx, NiOx, Pt, Pd, Ir, RuxOy, CeZrxOy, BiOx, TiNx. ZnO, ZnS, MnO2, NbO2, VS2, TiS2, CoS2, and Al2O3. A second embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method for forming an engineered coating on a conductive carbon surface. The method includes: determining one or more materials to be used for the engineered coating material; and forming the engineered coating, partly or fully coating the surfaces of the conductive carbon particles, wherein the coating material comprises at least one material selected from a group comprising: AlOx, TiOx, SnOx, ZnOx, NbOx, TiNbxOy, AlPxOy, MgOx, LiNbxOy, BOx, CeOx, LiAlxOy, Sn(PO4)x, ZrOx, MgAlxOy, SiOx, NiOx, Pt, Pd, Ir, RuxOy, CeZrxOy, BiOx, TiNx, ZnO, ZnS, MnO2, NbO2, VS2, TiS2, CoS2, and Al2O3. A third embodiment of the present disclosure comprises an electrode for a battery cell comprising conductive carbon, the surface on the conductive carbon particles being decorated with an engineered coating material formed on a surface of the conductive carbon, either partly or fully coating the surface of the conductive carbon particles. A fourth embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a method for forming an electrode for a lithium-ion battery cell. The method comprises the steps of: forming an engineered coating material onto an high surface area conductive carbon additive; dispersing the coated conductive carbon additive into an aqueous or organic solution containing a lithium compound; introducing one or more fibrous carbon conductive additives and one or more binders to produce a slurry; and applying the slurry onto a current collector. A fifth embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a battery, comprising at least one battery cell comprising: an anode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material; a cathode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material including conductive carbon, the conductive carbon being decorated with an engineered material, having partial or full coverage of the surface of the conductive particle; an ionically conductive separator disposed between the anode and the cathode; and an electrolyte configured to provide ion transfer between the anode and the cathode. A sixth embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a method for forming a battery including at least one battery cell. The method comprises the steps of: forming an anode comprising a current collector and an electrochemically active material; forming a cathode