Advanced Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing R&D

Transcription

1 EVS28 KINTEX, Korea, May 3-6, 2015 Advanced Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing R&D James F. Miller Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA 60439

2 Introduction I. The cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles has fallen quite dramatically over the past five years 1. but significant further battery cost reductions are needed to achieve greater market penetration of hybrid and electric vehicles II. III. The US Department of Energy (DOE) is supporting much research and development to investigate manufacturing techniques that have potential to increase cell performance while reducing cost 1. after the basic materials cost, the manufacturing and assembly costs can be a significant fraction of overall battery system costs R&D activities for reduced manufacturing cost processes 1) new UV-curable binders to permit much faster and less expensive slurry drying 2) use of aqueous or dry binding technologies to eliminate expensive organic solvents 3) fast cell formation techniques 4) very thick electrodes (1 mm vs. 100 μm) with aligned pores 5) spray pyrolysis techniques for active material production 6) diagnostic technologies to investigate manufacturing in-situ 2

3 Manufacturing Technology Electrode manufacturing and cell fabrication are 25% of battery cost. Breakthroughs Needed? NMP solvent substitute Dry processing Fast curing binders The cell production line comprises a number of discrete unit operations process steps in fabricating the cell from its component materials. Materials Mixing Cell Assembly Electrolyte Filling Electrode Coating & Drying Pressing & Slitting Formation & Sorting Breakthrough Needed? High-speed deposition UV, microwave or IR flashlamp drying Ultrahigh packing density In situ separator coatings Currently: A 2-4 week process that assures performance, life, & safety of a cell Breakthrough Needed? Form SEI layer during material mixing or electrode processing High speed In-Situ NDI techniques to detect flaws & internal shorts

4 Advanced Cathode Materials Scale-up (ANL) I. Objectives 1. Develop scalable synthesis process for advanced lithium-rich, manganese-rich layered-lay ered cathode materials, producing kilogram quantities for market evaluation and high-volu me manufacturing 2. Identify and resolve constraints for the scale-up of advanced battery cathode materials, fro m the bench to pre-pilot scale with the development of cost-effective process technology. 3. To provide sufficient quantities of these materials produced under rigorous quality control specifications for industrial evaluation 4. To evaluate emerging manufacturing technologies for the production of these materials. II. Status 1. NMC Material (Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2) 1) Developed kilogram scale, continuous synthesis process. 2) Improved particle size control technology for better size and morphology control. 3) Process was preliminary optimized - material exceeds performance specifications. 4) Distributed ~ 5 kilograms of high-quality precursors and cathode materials. 2. Layered-layered Spinel 1) Process assessment has been completed. 2) Preliminary process optimization work has begun. 3. Emerging Manufacturing Technologies 1) Began evaluation on 1 wt% Al2O3 dry coating process 4

5 Scale-up of Advanced Electrolyte Materials Argonne National Laboratory Objectives scale-up of advanced electrolyte materials, from bench to pre-pilot scale with the development of cost-effective process technology provide sufficient quantities of these materials produced under rigorous quality control specifications for industrial evaluation evaluate emerging manufacturing technologies for the production of these materials Accomplishments scale-up work completed on Li-TDI (electrolyte salt), LBNL-PEFM (binder for Si electrode), and LiDFOB electrolyte ongoing work on GM Mn-ion Trap (separator modifier) and SNL-PFPBO (electrolyte additive) Establishing protocols for electrochemical evaluation to develop materials specifications (minimum purity and impurity profile) 5

6 Dry Process Electrode Fabrication Navitas Systems, LLC Accomplishments Dry electrode processing adapted from commercial high-volume manufacturing of ultracapacitors Dry process battery electrodes developed and demonstrated that meet battery rate and cycle life requirements Process is being optimized and scaled up to meet EV cell dimensional requirements Estimated cost reduction potential: 80% reduction in capital equipment cost 91% energy saving by eliminating drying and solvent recovery 20-50% reduction in cost of materials thru increased electrode coating thickness to reduce separator and current collectors 6

7 UV Curing to Reduce Cost and VOCs in the Manufacture of Li-ion Battery Electrodes Miltec UV International, LLC Accomplishments Developed stable, first-of-its-kind, UV curable binders for Li-ion cathodes; demonstrated novel cathode slurry processing techniques Eliminates NMP solvent use Operating speed of 200 feet/minute Achieved cathode thickness and porosity similar to conventional electrodes (~60 µm and ~25%) Durable UV binder lasts over 2,000 cycles in 100% DOD cycle life testing. Initial estimates are ~50% reduction in cathode manufacturing cost Also, ceramic particle coatings applied to polyolefin separators Replaces thermal drying of solvent-based binders. Eliminates coating ovens and solvent recovery. Shrinks the length of electrode coating operation to 4.2 meters. 10 wide slot die press with UV curing.

8 Low Cost Manufacturing Johnson Controls, Inc. Accomplishments Aqueous process electrode 2,500 cycles with 90% capacity retention Dry processed electrode 3-Ah cells demonstrate 30% lower ASI and 10% better rate capability than initial electrode designs Laminated separator Cells show 9% lower ASI and 27% better rate capability compared to baseline Fast formation Activation process combines step-charging and step-ageing; shows less variation and better performance, and the detection process at low SOC demonstrates improved detectability and lesser cell degradation 8

9 High-Capacity Alloy Anodes Applied Materials, Inc. Accomplishments Demonstrated feasibility of depositing alloy anode materials at high deposition rates Developed electro-deposition module which allows for 3-D porous structure formation in a single prototype tool for both 3-D Cu collector and 3-D CuSnFe alloy anode Coulombic efficiency improved by grain size reduction, pre-lithiation, and combining alloy with graphite Graphite coating by water soluble process to achieve adhesion to 3-D porous structures 9

10 Low Cost Inactive Components Optodot Corporation Accomplishments Starts with thin all-ceramic separator Overcoat separator with conventional cathode and anode layers Coat with current collector and second cathode or anode layer Process scaled up to full production width on a 72-inch wide production coater using slot die coating Current work focused on eliminating coating-related defects in electrodes, and developing a low-cost re-usable release substrate for the ceramic separator layer Much thinner current collectors (3 um) and separator (8 um) 40% cost savings 10

11 In-line Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Accomplishments Implemented in-line NDE for roll-to-roll electrode processing Installed in-line cross-web laser sensing for wet electrode thickness Installed IR thermography for dry electrode coating defects (agglomerates, pinholes, blisters, divots, metal particles, etc.) Established in-line thermal diffusivity and optical reflectance methods Integrated electrode defect performance findings with NDE and quality control (QC) development to advance battery manufacturing science 11

12 Thank You! 12