High-performance electrodes with a polymer network having electroactive materials chemically attached thereto
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorsXiaosong Huang, Nicole Ellison
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Abstract
High performance electrodes for electrochemical devices having a polymer network with an electroactive material chemically attached to a crosslinked polymer matrix are disclosed. A method includes mixing an electrode slurry and forming a polymer network within the electrode slurry. The electrode slurry includes an electroactive material, an electrically conductive filler, a plurality of polymer chains, and a plurality of chemical crosslinking precursors. Each chemically crosslinking precursor is configured to (i) chemically crosslink the plurality of polymer chains and (ii) chemically attach the electroactive material to the plurality of polymer chains.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- mixing an electrode slurry including an electroactive material, an electrically conductive filler, a plurality of polyacrylic acid polymer chains, and a plurality of isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors, each of the isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors chemically crosslinking the plurality of polyacrylic acid polymer chains and chemically attaching the electroactive material to the plurality of isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors;
- grafting the plurality of isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors to the plurality of polyacrylic acid polymer chains, the grafting including:
- mixing the plurality of isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors with the plurality of polyacrylic acid polymer chains to thereby form a grafting solution;
- and
- resting the grafting solution for a predefined resting period such that substantially all of the isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors are grafted to the polyacrylic acid polymer chains;
- and
- forming a polymer network within the electrode slurry after resting the grafting solution.
A method of manufacturing an electrode for a lithium-ion electrochemical device, the method comprising:
- mixing an electrode slurry including a silicon-containing electroactive material, a carbon-containing electrically conductive filler, a plurality of polyacrylic acid polymer chains, and a plurality of isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors, each of the isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors chemically crosslinking the polyacrylic acid polymer chains and chemically attaching the silicon-containing electroactive material to the polyacrylic acid polymer chains;
- grafting the isocyanate chemical crosslinking precursors to the polyacrylic acid polymer chains, including:
- mixing isocyanate-silane crosslinkers or epoxide-isocyanate crosslinkers with a polymer solution to thereby form a grafting solution, and
- resting the grafting solution until substantially all of the isocyanate-silane or epoxide-isocyanate crosslinkers are grafted onto the polyacrylic acid polymer chains,
- forming a polymer network suspended within the electrode slurry after resting the grafting solution;
- applying the electrode slurry having the polymer network suspended therein to a current collector;
- and
- drying the electrode slurry on the current collector to thereby form the electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.