HIGH CAPACITY, LONG CYCLE LIFE BATTERY ANODE MATERIALS, COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS

• Main Authors: Sherwood, Walter, Marcus, Kyle, Easter, William G, Hill, Arnold
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 13.03.2024
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRICITY; PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSIONOF CHEMICAL INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY

Polymer derived ceramic (PDC) materials, compositions and methods of making high capacity, long cycle, long life battery anodes to improve the performance of batteries of all types, including but not limited to coin cell batteries, electric vehicle (EV) batteries, hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) batteries, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) batteries, battery electric vehicle (BEV) batteries, lithium cobalt (LCO) batteries, lithium iron (LFP) batteries; and lithium-ion (Li) batteries, and lead acid batteries. Silicon is incorporated in the PDC material at a molecular level when reacting a polymer derived ceramic precursor and a silicon hydride constituent or a silicon alkoxide constituent to form a PDC composition useful as a powdered battery anode material. A predetermined amount of divinylbenzene is added as a crosslinker and a modifier to increase free carbon content. The resulting battery anode materials increase the specific capacity of a battery measured in milliampere-hours per gram (mAh/g) and increase the life cycle of a battery while minimizing distortion and stress of the anode structure.