Electroplating lithium transition metal oxides

Huigang Zhang; Hailong Ning; John Busbee; Zihan Shen; Chadd Kiggins; Yuyan Hua; Janna Eaves; Jerome Davis 3rd; Tan Shi; Yu-Tsun Shao; Jian-Min Zuo; Xuhao Hong; Yanbin Chan; Shuangbao Wang; Peng Wang; Pengcheng Sun; Sheng Xu; Jinyun Liu; Paul V Braun

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1602427

Electroplating lithium transition metal oxides

Sci Adv. 2017 May 12;3(5):e1602427. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1602427. eCollection 2017 May.

Authors

Huigang Zhang¹, Hailong Ning², John Busbee², Zihan Shen¹, Chadd Kiggins², Yuyan Hua², Janna Eaves², Jerome Davis 3rd², Tan Shi², Yu-Tsun Shao³, Jian-Min Zuo^{3

4}, Xuhao Hong¹, Yanbin Chan¹, Shuangbao Wang¹, Peng Wang¹, Pengcheng Sun³, Sheng Xu⁵, Jinyun Liu³, Paul V Braun^{2

3

4

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Institute of Materials Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
² Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation, 60 Hazelwood Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
⁴ Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
⁵ Department of NanoEngineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
⁶ Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Abstract

Materials synthesis often provides opportunities for innovation. We demonstrate a general low-temperature (260°C) molten salt electrodeposition approach to directly electroplate the important lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cathode materials LiCoO₂, LiMn₂O₄, and Al-doped LiCoO₂. The crystallinities and electrochemical capacities of the electroplated oxides are comparable to those of the powders synthesized at much higher temperatures (700° to 1000°C). This new growth method significantly broadens the scope of battery form factors and functionalities, enabling a variety of highly desirable battery properties, including high energy, high power, and unprecedented electrode flexibility.

Keywords: cathode; electroplating; flexible batteries; lithium ion batteries; lithium transition metal oxides.