Innovations in Lithium-Air Batteries for Electric Vehicle

Method of manufacturing a tabless stacked cell for lithium-air batteries to improve energy density. The manufacturing process has three steps: 1. Preparing the cathode slurry with a specific composition of conductive carbon black, mesoporous carbon, and lithium salt. 2. Coating the slurry onto a current collector to form a thin, flexible cathode layer. 3. Stacking the cathode layers without tabs to create a tabless stacked cell. The thin, flexible cathode layers eliminate the need for protruding tabs that can limit stacking density. The slurry composition promotes capacity and cycling stability in the thin cathode.

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Lithium-air battery structure that decouples electrochemical reactions from solid product storage to improve battery performance. The battery has separate electrodes for electrochemical reaction and solid product storage. During discharge, oxygen from the air electrode dissolves in the electrolyte and reacts with lithium ions to form soluble lithium superoxide. This superoxide then quickly converts to solid lithium peroxide in the solid product storage electrode. By decoupling the reaction and storage steps, it prevents solid product accumulation on the air electrode and reduces resistance.

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Lithium-air battery with a solid organic catalyst in the cathode that doesn't migrate to the anode, improving performance and safety. The cathode uses a solid p-type electroactive organic catalyst lithium salt instead of a soluble catalyst. This prevents catalyst migration to the anode, reducing degradation, hysteresis, and capacity fade. The fixed catalyst also allows using Li metal in the anode without protection. The battery can be primary or rechargeable.

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Cathode for lithium-air batteries with improved capacity and lifetime. The cathode is made of a carbon foam with open cells that provides channels for air flow. The carbon foam structure is coated with an electrode material inside the open cells. This allows the electrode material to be fixed in place and the air to flow through the foam, preventing discharge product buildup on the surface. It also enables better electrolyte penetration. The open cell carbon foam cathode improves capacity and cycle life of lithium-air batteries compared to dense cathode materials.

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Lithium-air battery with improved cycle life for energy storage applications. The battery contains a non-aqueous electrolyte with a specific liquid amount per unit area of the positive electrode. This amount ranges from 4.1 to 6.4 μL/cm² based on the discharge capacity. The battery also optionally has separators, a solid electrolyte layer, and a negative electrode current collector. The precise electrolyte volume helps suppress lithium peroxide buildup during discharge, preventing oxygen diffusion hindrance and degradation.

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Lithium-air battery with improved performance, a method for making it, and using it in electric vehicles. The battery has a unique cathode design with a gas diffusion layer filled with air and coated with conductive carbon. This allows reversible oxygen cycling and high efficiency. The battery is made by stacking the cathode, separator, and anode under inert gas, impregnating the separator with a specific electrolyte, and encapsulating it to allow air penetration.

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Protected lithium electrode structure for lithium-air batteries to improve cycle life and prevent performance degradation. The protected electrode has a sealed negative electrode layer of lithium metal, alloy, or compound between the current collector and separator. This sealing prevents lithium dendrites from growing and dispersing during charging/discharging. A separate layer captures any fine lithium powder that does escape, confining it and preventing it from dispersing in the electrolyte. This prevents lithium loss and maintains battery performance over multiple cycles.

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A lithium oxygen battery design that improves the cycling stability and coulombic efficiency of the lithium metal anode by protecting it from electrolyte decomposition. The battery has a shell with oxygen supply holes on both sides. The anode, diaphragm, and cathode are stacked inside the shell. This allows oxygen to enter through the anode side holes during discharge, preventing anode-electrolyte reaction. During charge, oxygen enters through the cathode side holes. The cathode porosity allows oxygen transfer without clogging. This prevents electrolyte decomposition and corrosion of the anode, improving cycling stability and coulombic efficiency.

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Lithium-air battery with a lithium alloy anode that enables high energy density without the typical issues of conventional anodes like low capacity and decomposition. The anode uses a lithium alloy that provides high electronic and ionic conductivity along with chemical stability during charging and discharging. This allows the lithium alloy anode to avoid decomposition and capacity fade issues seen in conventional anodes. The lithium alloy anode also enables thicker discharge product layers without significant energy density loss compared to conventional anodes. The battery also includes an oxygen cathode, a solid electrolyte membrane, and a lithium-containing separator.

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Lithium-air battery with catalyst particles to control discharge product and improve efficiency. The battery has a negative electrode with lithium, a positive electrode with catalyst particles for generating LiO2, and an oxygen-based positive electrode active material. The catalyst particles control whether LiO2 is generated and its amount. This provides a lithium-air battery that generates the high-efficiency LiO2 discharge product instead of lower-efficiency Li2O2 or Li2O.

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A chemically stable lithium-containing metal oxide anode for lithium-air batteries that can provide high energy density and prevent deterioration during charging and discharging. The anode contains a lithium-containing metal oxide like Li0.10La0.63TiO3-δ (0≤δ≤1.0) that has spinel, perovskite, anti-perovskite, garnet, or silicate crystal structures. The lithium-containing metal oxide anode provides stability against radicals and decomposition during electrochemical reactions compared to conventional carbon-based anodes.

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Lithium air battery design that improves charge/discharge efficiency, cycle life, and prevents leakage compared to conventional lithium air batteries. The battery has a unique housing with a sealed space for the anode and an open air receiving area for the cathode. This prevents moisture ingress into the anode while allowing air access for the cathode. The anode is a lithium metal, the cathode is a porous material, and an electrolyte separates them. This configuration enables stable cycling with high capacity, long life, and reduced polarization compared to conventional lithium air batteries.

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A lithium-air battery with improved performance by preventing dendritic lithium plating and controlling oxygen diffusion. The battery uses a ceramic separator to contain molten lithium anode, an air cathode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte. A temperature gradient across the cathode forms a flow system where reaction products accumulate in the lower temperature region, preventing clogging of the reaction sites. The separator allows lithium plating while preventing dendrites. The non-aqueous electrolyte prevents corrosion of the lithium anode. The flow system enables efficient lithium cycling and avoids capacity fade.

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A method to improve the performance of lithium oxygen batteries by sealing them in an airtight container after discharging to deposit lithium oxide on the cathode. This provides a precharged state with lithium-rich anodes and cathodes, allowing efficient oxygen reduction reactions during charging. The sealed containers prevent oxygen ingress, improving cycle life and preventing degradation.

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Cathode design for lithium-air batteries with improved cycle life and capacity compared to existing designs. The cathode has a carbon matrix with low density (less than 5 mg/cm3) to prevent density-induced capacity fade. It also contains redox-active species like Ru, Ir, Fe, or Pt dispersed on graphene or carbon nanotubes to promote electron transfer and prevent film formation. The electrolyte and insulating layers are optimized to avoid blocking oxygen, lithium ions, or electrons. This reduces degradation mechanisms like electrolyte decomposition, film formation, and electrolyte penetration issues.

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Stabilizing the intermediate discharge product in metal-air batteries to improve charge/discharge capacity and cycle life. This is achieved by adding a nano-magnetic material to the negative electrode along with carbon. The magnetic material helps stabilize the lithium oxide (Li2O2) intermediate formed during discharge, preventing further reactions that degrade battery performance.

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Aqueous lithium-air battery with improved capacity and cycle life by using a conductive porous layer between the lithium metal and electrolyte. The battery has a lithium metal anode, a solid electrolyte layer, a reaction prevention layer between the metal and electrolyte, an organic electrolyte layer, and a porous conductive layer between the metal and organic electrolyte. The conductive porous layer prevents lithium dendrite growth and maintains contact with the metal as it erodes during cycling.

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Lithium-air battery that can be easily manufactured while having excellent characteristics. The battery uses lithium peroxide or lithium carbonate in the positive electrode and a lithium-ion conductor between the electrodes. The negative electrode contains lithium ions derived from the peroxide or carbonate instead of metallic lithium. This prevents consumption of metallic lithium by moisture. The negative electrode can also have electron conductive supports like nickel or copper. The battery is assembled in normal moisture conditions and the peroxide/carbonate can reprecipitate during cycling to maintain capacity balance.

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A metal/oxygen battery design to improve round trip efficiency, cycle life, and avoid issues like dendrite formation and moisture contamination in lithium-oxygen batteries. The key innovation is maintaining high oxygen pressure inside the positive electrode during charging to compress the oxygen-containing discharge products. This prevents them from flaking off or forming insulating films, improving contact and efficiency. The high pressure is achieved by having a fixed amount of oxygen in the battery or using a dedicated oxygen reservoir instead of air. The battery is also sealed to prevent oxygen ingress during operation.

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A lithium air battery design with improved performance and durability by preventing moisture and oxygen ingress into the anode. The anode is sealed with a solid electrolyte and a sealing part around the lithium metal, laminated with a separator and current collector. This prevents corrosion and hydrogen generation from lithium-water reactions. The sealed anode is sandwiched between a cathode and electrolyte in a housing with a separate air space. This allows air access for the cathode while preventing ingress to the anode.

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