Preventing Dendrite Formation in Lithium Metal Batteries

Battery system for optimizing charging in cold temperatures to prevent lithium plating and maximize charging power. The system uses reference cells in cold spots to monitor anode potential. If a reference cell's potential drops below a threshold, charging current is reduced. This prevents lithium plating in cold cells without limiting overall charging capacity. The reference cells are placed in positions expected to have lower temperatures during charging. By monitoring cold cells specifically, the system can prevent plating in those locations without unnecessarily limiting charging power in warmer cells.

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Three-dimensional lithium anode for high-capacity lithium-ion batteries that addresses the limitations of graphite anodes. The anode has a vertical structure with columnar or grid-shaped lithium deposited on a copper substrate. A conformal capping layer is deposited over the lithium to protect it and prevent dendrite growth. The vertical structure allows higher lithium loading density compared to flat graphite anodes. The capping layer prevents volume expansion and ensures stable cycling. The 3D lithium anode has higher capacity, lower weight, and better cycling compared to graphite anodes.

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Negative electrode for lithium metal batteries with improved cycle life and reduced volumetric change during charging. The negative electrode has a protective layer on the lithium metal surface with particles sizes between 1-100 microns. The protective layer has a Young's modulus of 106 Pa or greater. This provides mechanical strength to prevent dendrite growth and volumetric expansion during charging. The protective layer also improves lithium deposition density compared to bare lithium metal electrodes.

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An all solid state battery design to prevent short circuits in the anode during charging by controlling the resistance distribution. The battery has a coating layer with lithium titanate on the anode current collector. The coating exists in the region where the anode and cathode are opposing but is omitted in the region where they are not opposed. This helps balance charge reaction progression in both regions. In the opposed region, the coating provides a conductive path to lower anode potential. In the non-opposed region, the coating omission reduces resistance compared to the coated region. This prevents uneven charge reaction progression and minimizes short circuits in the anode.

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Lithium electrode for batteries with a protective layer to prevent dendrite growth in lithium metal anodes. The protective layer is a composite of two layers: a first layer close to the lithium metal with high ion conductivity, and a second layer further from the lithium metal with high electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. The first layer allows lithium ions to pass and prevents lithium depletion. The second layer transfers electrons to the lithium surface and prevents localized current density. The composite layer structure inhibits dendrite growth and improves battery performance compared to single-layer coatings.

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Active material for high-performance lithium-ion battery negative electrodes that balances capacity, cycle life, and energy density. The active material contains both Nb2TiO7 and Nb-rich phases like Nb10Ti2O29, Nb14TiO37, and Nb24TiO64. It also has optimized particle size distribution and contains potassium and phosphorus. The Nb-rich phases improve overcharge resistance and cycle life. The potassium and phosphorus help suppress particle growth during synthesis. The particle size distribution is fine enough for good rate performance but not excessively small to prevent cracking during cycling.

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Lithium battery with high energy density and improved cycle life by using a lithium-silicon composite negative electrode. The battery has a lithium-silicon composite negative electrode active material with elemental lithium and a lithium-silicon alloy. The battery also has a protective layer on the negative electrode to suppress side reactions and lithium plating. During charging, the battery is stopped at a lower cutoff voltage where no lithium is deposited on the negative electrode. This prevents dendrite formation and improves cycle life.

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Low cost, reinforced solid polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries that provide improved mechanical, electrochemical, and thermal stability compared to existing solid electrolytes. The electrolyte is made by coating a porous substrate with a fluoropolymer-ionic liquid-lithium salt solution on one side and a fluoropolymer-LLZO solution on the other side. The coated substrate is then dried and cured to form the solid electrolyte. The reinforced electrolyte has better ionic conductivity, lower dendrite growth, and higher thermal stability than pure solid polymer electrolytes.

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Electrode plate design for lithium-ion batteries to increase energy density and cycle life by quantitative and precise lithium replenishment. The electrode plate has lithium replenishing spaces with controlled volumes and locations based on the local active material weight. This prevents over- or under-lithiation in thin edges versus thick regions. The lithium replenishing agents are deposited into the spaces during manufacturing. This allows targeted lithium replenishment matching the specific needs of each region.

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Self-heating control method for rechargeable batteries that allows even heating to avoid lithium precipitation and improve cycle life and safety. The method involves detecting potential differences between a reference electrode and surface electrode inside the battery core during self-heating. If the potentials are too low, it generates a charging current adjustment instruction to reduce or stop charging. If the potentials are too high, it generates a heating current adjustment instruction to reduce or stop heating. By dynamically adjusting the current based on local potentials, it prevents lithium precipitation hotspots.

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Lithium-ion battery with improved cycling life, energy density, and safety by mixing single crystal and polycrystal positive electrode materials in separate cells. The battery has a bare cell cavity with separate cells containing either a single crystal low-nickel positive electrode or a polycrystal high-nickel positive electrode. This allows leveraging the shrinkage property of polycrystal high-nickel materials at high charge levels to reduce stress on the negative electrode and prevent lithium plating. The single crystal low-nickel materials mitigate issues of gas production, safety, and storage degradation at high charge levels.

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Controlling charging of lithium-ion batteries to prevent lithium plating on anodes by dynamically adjusting charging parameters based on real-time battery conditions. The method involves using an electrochemical model to monitor parameters like temperature, state of charge, and current during charging. The model calculates lithium plating kinetics and quantity based on these conditions. Charging limits are then adjusted in real-time to prevent plating based on the modeled data rather than fixed conservative limits. This allows more efficient charging without overly restrictive limits.

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A composite interlayer for lithium metal solid-state batteries to improve cycle life and reduce impedance at the lithium metal/solid electrolyte interface. The interlayer is formed by coating the lithium metal with a mixture of lithium nitrate, dimethoxyethane, and trimethyl phosphate. This coating is applied to the lithium metal for 1-2 hours, then dried to form the interlayer between the lithium metal and solid electrolyte. The interlayer contains an ionic conductor, like lithium nitrate, dispersed in an organic matrix. This composite interlayer suppresses side reactions between lithium metal and the solid electrolyte, reducing impedance, and improves cycle life compared to bare lithium metal.

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Composite electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries with improved stability against dendrite growth and resistance to cracking when used with high-capacity lithium metal anodes. The composite electrolytes have a high volume fraction of inorganic solid electrolyte embedded in an organic polymer matrix. The inorganic component provides ionic conductivity while the polymer prevents dendrite growth and cracks. The composite electrolytes have fracture strengths between 5-250 MPa. The inorganic material can be a lithium-stuffed garnet oxide or antiperovskite oxide. The organic polymer can be entangled with a surface species on the inorganic particles. The composite electrolytes prevent dendrite formation and cycling at high current densities without cracking compared to pure organic electrolytes.

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Coatings for battery separators and other porous substrates that improve safety and performance. The coatings contain a polymeric binder, heat-resistant particles, and optional components like cross-linkers, shutdown agents, adhesion agents, friction-reducing agents, and thickeners. The coatings provide better heat resistance, dendrite blocking, compression resistance, adhesion, friction reduction, and shutdown performance compared to uncoated separators. The coatings can be applied to battery separators to improve safety and performance, particularly during abuse conditions like overcharge and overdischarge.

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Battery pack design that maintains optimal pressure inside the battery cells to improve lifespan and performance. The battery pack has a housing with movable rigid plates and compression springs that axially compress the battery chamber when closed. This pressurizes the cells. When pressure rises, the plates expand the chamber to prevent rupture. The springs are shape memory alloys that bias the plates closed. This allows automated pressure control for lithium metal batteries to prevent dendrite growth.

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Lithium battery separator that combines the benefits of polymer separators and solid ceramic electrolytes for improved battery performance. The separator is a three-layer structure with ceramic electrolyte coatings on either side of a polymer separator. The ceramic layers, made of materials like lithium aluminum germanium phosphate (LAGP), provide high ionic conductivity, stability, and prevent dendrite formation. The polymer separator provides flexibility and mechanical strength. The hybrid separator shows better electrolyte uptake, ionic conductivity, interface stability, cycle life, and voltage polarization compared to regular polymer separators.

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Battery design with internal expansion space to prevent box deformation and lithium plating. The battery has a box, module with cells, and an elastic support plate between. The plate abuts the box and deforms when the module expands. This allows module expansion while preventing box deformation. It also prevents cell squeeze and lithium plating.

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Winding type electrode assembly for lithium ion batteries that reduces lithium plating. The assembly has a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate wound together. The negative electrode plate has a first portion that overlaps the head of the positive electrode plate, and a second portion that overlaps the main body of the positive electrode plate. The width of the first portion exceeds the width of the positive electrode plate head, while the width of the second portion is smaller. This ensures that the negative electrode protrusion size at the head and tail exceeds the positive electrode size, mitigating lithium plating risk.

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Lithium metal composite electrode material for lithium metal batteries with improved cycle stability and reduced dendrite formation compared to conventional lithium metal electrodes. The composite electrode material has a lithium-containing conductive layer grown in situ on the surfaces of lithium metal particles. This layer isolates the lithium metal from the electrolyte to reduce irreversible reactions and dendrite growth. The layer includes an inorganic lithium compound and lithium alloy. The layer serves as a 3D framework structure that coats the lithium metal particles. This framework reduces volume expansion and dendrite formation during cycling. The composite electrode material is prepared by mixing lithium metal, a metal compound, and conductive carbon, then heat treating to grow the in situ layer.

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