Phase-component-controllable lithium-aluminum alloy negative electrode material, and preparation method and application thereof
Technical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of non-ferrous metallurgy and secondary battery cathode materials, and particularly relates to a preparation method of a phase component-controllable lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material and a lithium ion battery adopting the cathode material.
Background
The metallic lithium has extremely high theoretical specific capacity (3860mAh/g) and the most negative electrode potential (-3.04V vs. SHE), and is the most promising next-generation lithium battery negative electrode material. However, the formation of lithium dendrites and the reaction of metallic lithium with the electrolyte during cycling results in a decrease in the battery charge-discharge cycling efficiency and an increase in the interfacial resistance; the generation of "dendrites" and "dead lithium" brings about problems of safety and loss of electrode active materials, and the like, and severely restricts the application of the metallic lithium negative electrode. In addition, the metal lithium also has the characteristics of high activity, poor air stability and the like, and the difficulty in the processing and transportation process is increased. In recent years, it has become an important research direction in the battery field to suppress the formation of lithium dendrites and improve the safety and stability of a lithium secondary battery metallic lithium negative electrode.
The three-dimensional structure negative electrode adopts a three-dimensional structure conductive current collector or a three-dimensional structure hollow material as a framework, and metal lithium is filled in the framework to form the composite negative electrode with a three-dimensional conductive network. The composite structure can effectively improve the electric field distribution in the metal lithium negative electrode and at the interface, inhibit the dendritic growth of the metal lithium through the porous microstructure, and improve the multiplying power performance of the negative electrode. Meanwhile, the three-dimensional conductive network is beneficial to reducing the accumulation of 'dead lithium' in the negative electrode and reducing the cycle capacity loss of the negative electrode. Is one of the most feasible technical schemes acknowledged in the metal lithium battery industry at present.
For example, patent application No. CN94104418 discloses a lithium aluminum alloy for a battery cathode material and a manufacturing method thereof, wherein the lithium aluminum alloy is an β -phase LiAl alloy and is characterized by containing 18-24 wt.% of lithium and the balance being aluminumIn the process, the phase change occurs in the lithium deintercalation process, which causes the volume change of the negative electrode material. For another example, CN103290293 provides a method for preparing a lithium aluminum alloy with aluminum content of 0.1-4.0 wt.%, but this method can only prepare a lithium solid solution with aluminum solid-dissolved in lithium lattice, and does not form a compound with a three-dimensional skeleton structure, and cannot achieve the effect of inhibiting lithium dendrite. Patent CN110120502 provides a lithium-aluminium alloy phase Al with three-dimensional skeleton structure4Li9However, the preparation method cannot freely regulate and control the phase composition of the Li-Al alloy and the content of active Li.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the problems and the defects in the prior art, the invention provides the phase component-controllable lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material and the preparation method thereof, the process is simple, and the lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material is suitable for large-scale production.
The invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
the phase composition-controllable lithium-aluminum alloy negative electrode material is a skeleton-shaped lithium-aluminum alloy or a lithium-aluminum alloy composed of the skeleton-shaped lithium-aluminum alloy and metal lithium filled in the skeleton.
Optionally, the lithium-aluminum alloy is metal lithium and metal aluminum, or an alloy formed by metal lithium, metal aluminum and metal M, wherein the metal M is one or more of Si, Mg, Ag, Sn, Cu, B, and W; the phase of the lithium-aluminum alloy is one or more of AlLi, Al2Li3, Al4Li9, LiMx, AlLixMy, Li, Al and M.
Preferably, the molar ratio of the metal aluminum, lithium and M in the lithium aluminum alloy is 1: 1-9: 0 to 0.1.
The invention also provides a lithium ion battery, which comprises a battery shell, an electrode group and electrolyte, wherein the electrode group and the electrolyte are sealed in the battery shell, the electrode group comprises a positive electrode, a diaphragm and a negative electrode, and the negative electrode adopts the negative electrode material.
The invention also provides a preparation method of the phase component-controllable lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material, which comprises the following specific steps:
s1, fully mixing a certain amount of metal aluminum and metal lithium or metal lithium, metal aluminum and metal M in an inert atmosphere, sequentially and respectively heating for a certain time at different sintering temperatures and fully stirring to obtain a liquid alloy;
and S2, cooling the liquid alloy prepared in the S1, and processing the cooled alloy into an alloy negative plate with different phase compositions.
According to the actual proportion of aluminum, lithium and M, after cooling, a skeleton-shaped lithium-aluminum alloy and an alloy with different phases formed by metal lithium filled in the skeleton are respectively formed, wherein the skeleton-shaped lithium-aluminum alloy phase may be one or more of AlxLiy, AlLixMy and LiMx.
Preferably, the inert atmosphere in S1 is argon.
Preferably, the heating mode in S1 is multi-stage temperature control, the first stage temperature is 181-320 ℃, and the heating time is 5-40 minutes; the temperature of the second section is 330-760 ℃, and the heating time is 15-40 minutes; the stirring time is 20-80 minutes.
Preferably, the temperature reduction treatment in S2 is realized by a cooling system control cabinet, and the cooling speed is 20 ℃/S to 80 ℃/S.
Preferably, the processing method in the step 2 is one or more of casting, rolling and stamping.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that:
the lithium-aluminum alloy provided by the invention modifies the performance of pure metal lithium, not only maintains the advantage of lithium capacity, but also improves the dendritic crystal inhibition effect, and the formed lithium-aluminum alloy has a three-dimensional framework structure and is used as a negative electrode material to prolong the charge-discharge cycle life of a battery. The negative electrode with the three-dimensional framework structure is a composite negative electrode with a three-dimensional conductive network formed by filling metal lithium or a lithium compound with a disintercalable property in a three-dimensional conductive current collector or a three-dimensional hollow nano material serving as a framework. As can be seen from XRD, the phases of examples 1, 2, 3 and 4 are an aluminum lithium intermetallic compound and metal lithium and a deintercalable lithium compound filled therein, indicating that they form a three-dimensional skeleton structure.
Due to the existence of Li element in the framework, the lithium-philic lithium ion material has lithium-philic property, and can provide more uniform deposition sites for Li ions, thereby reducing the generation of lithium dendrites. Meanwhile, the three-dimensional structure can effectively improve the electric field distribution in the metal lithium cathode and at the interface, inhibit the dendritic growth of the metal lithium through the porous microstructure, reduce the product of 'dead lithium' in the cathode, improve the multiplying power performance of the cathode and reduce the cycle capacity loss of the cathode.
Drawings
FIG. 1a is an XRD pattern of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in example 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 1b is an XRD pattern of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in example 2 of the present invention;
FIG. 1c is an XRD pattern of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in example 3 of the present invention;
FIG. 1d is an XRD pattern of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in example 4 of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an SEM image of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in example 3 of the present invention; it can be seen from the figure that the lithium aluminum alloy prepared according to example 3 has a loose porous structure;
fig. 3 is an SEM image of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in example 4 of the present invention. It can be seen from the figure that the lithium aluminum alloy prepared according to example 4 has a loose porous structure.
Detailed Description
The invention is further described with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
Example 1
In this embodiment, the preparation method of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material specifically includes the following steps:
step 1, under an argon atmosphere, firstly, mixing aluminum powder and a metal lithium block according to a molar ratio of 1: 1, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material in a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional manner, the temperature in the first section is 181 ℃, and the heating time is 40 minutes; the second stage temperature was 760 ℃ and the heating time was 40 minutes. Fully stirring for 80 minutes;
pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at a cooling speed of 50 ℃/s, and stamping the molten liquid alloy into an alloy negative plate by using a stamping machine after cooling to room temperature;
the XRD pattern of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material prepared in this example is shown in fig. 1a, and the phase components are mainly solid solutions in which AlLi is solid-dissolved in Al lattice with the balance being Li.
Example 2
In this embodiment, the preparation method of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material specifically includes the following steps:
step 1, under an argon environment, firstly, mixing aluminum particles and a metal lithium band according to a molar ratio of 1: 2, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material in a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional mode, the temperature of the first section is 320 ℃, and the heating time is 5 minutes; the second stage temperature was 650 ℃ and the heating time was 15 minutes. Fully stirring for 20 minutes;
pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at a cooling speed of 60 ℃/s, and stamping the molten liquid alloy into an alloy negative plate by using a stamping machine after cooling to room temperature;
the XRD pattern of the lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material prepared in this example is shown in FIG. 1b, and the phase component is mainly Al2Li3The balance being Al4Li9。
Example 3
In this embodiment, the preparation method of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material specifically includes the following steps:
step 1, under an argon atmosphere, firstly, mixing aluminum powder and metal lithium powder according to a molar ratio of 1: 2.7, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material into a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional mode, the first-stage temperature is 210 ℃, and the heating time is 20 minutes; the second stage temperature was 590 ℃ and the heating time was 20 minutes. Fully stirring for 30 minutes;
pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at a cooling speed of 20 ℃/s, and rolling to form an alloy negative plate by using a rolling machine after cooling to room temperature;
lithium aluminum prepared in this exampleThe XRD pattern of the alloy cathode material is shown in figure 1c, and the phase component is mainly Al2Li3、Al4Li9And metallic Li.
Example 4
In this embodiment, the preparation method of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material specifically includes the following steps:
step 1, under an argon environment, firstly, mixing aluminum particles and metal lithium particles according to a molar ratio of 1: 5.7, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material in a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional mode, the first-stage temperature is 220 ℃, and the heating time is 30 minutes; the second stage temperature was 450 ℃ and the heating time was 40 minutes. Fully stirring for 60 minutes;
and 2, pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at the cooling speed of 70 ℃/s, cooling to room temperature, and then rolling into an alloy negative plate by using a rolling machine.
The XRD pattern of the lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material prepared in this example is shown in FIG. 1d, and the phase component is mainly Al4Li9And metallic Li.
Example 5
In this embodiment, the preparation method of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material specifically includes the following steps:
step 1, under an argon environment, firstly, mixing aluminum particles and a metal lithium band according to a molar ratio of 1: 9, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material in a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional mode, the temperature of the first section is 300 ℃, and the heating time is 30 minutes; the second stage temperature was 330 ℃ and the heating time was 30 minutes. Fully stirring for 50 minutes;
and 2, pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at a cooling speed of 55 ℃/s, and stamping the molten liquid alloy into an alloy negative plate by using a stamping machine after cooling to room temperature.
Example 6
In this embodiment, the preparation method of the lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode material specifically includes the following steps:
step 1, under an argon environment, firstly, mixing aluminum powder, lithium powder and silver powder according to a molar ratio of 1: 6: 0.03, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material in a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional mode, the first-stage temperature is 280 ℃, and the heating time is 25 minutes; the second stage temperature was 450 ℃ and the heating time was 25 minutes. Stirred well for 50 minutes.
And 2, pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at the cooling speed of 35 ℃/s, cooling to room temperature, and stamping into the alloy negative plate by using a stamping machine.
Example 7
The preparation method of the lithium-aluminum alloy cathode material comprises the following specific steps:
step 1, under an argon environment, firstly, mixing aluminum particles, lithium blocks and silicon powder according to a molar ratio of 1: 7: 0.1, uniformly mixing to form a raw material, then placing an iron crucible containing the raw material in a heating furnace for heating, wherein the temperature is controlled in a sectional manner, the first-stage temperature is 260 ℃, and the heating time is 15 minutes; the second stage temperature was 370 ℃ and the heating time was 40 minutes.
Fully stirring for 45 minutes;
and 2, pouring the molten liquid alloy into an iron mold for casting molding, cooling at the cooling speed of 80 ℃/s, cooling to room temperature, and stamping into the alloy negative plate by using a stamping machine.
While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The lithium aluminum alloys prepared in examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were used as negative electrode materials for charge and discharge experiments, respectively, to measure the performance of the lithium aluminum alloy of the present invention. The anode material adopts lithium cobaltate, and the diaphragm adopts Al-coated2O3The button cell is assembled by the PP film. The cycle performance of the battery was evaluated by 0.2C charge and discharge.
Comparative example 1
In addition, a lithium-aluminum alloy was prepared according to the method of CN94104418, and a charge and discharge experiment was performed under the same conditions.
Comparative example 2
In addition, a lithium-aluminum alloy was prepared according to the method of CN103290293, and a charge and discharge experiment was performed under the same conditions.
Comparative example 3
Further, a charge and discharge experiment was performed under the same conditions using a commercially pure Li sheet as a negative electrode material.
As can be seen from the table, the lithium-aluminum alloy of the invention is a three-dimensional framework structure lithium-aluminum alloy or a framework structure lithium-aluminum alloy and the metal lithium filled in the framework, the performance of the pure metal lithium is modified, the lithium capacity advantage is maintained, the dendritic crystal inhibition effect is improved, and the lithium-aluminum alloy is used as a secondary battery cathode material to prolong the charge-discharge cycle life of the battery.
Numbering
|
Number of cycles
|
Capacity retention ratio%
|
Number of cycles
|
Capacity retention ratio%
|
Example 1
|
50
|
82.3
|
100
|
70.7
|
Example 2
|
50
|
92.2
|
100
|
85.4
|
Example 3
|
50
|
97.6
|
100
|
94.1
|
Example 4
|
50
|
97.0
|
100
|
95.4
|
Example 5
|
50
|
95.4
|
100
|
91.8
|
Example 6
|
50
|
97.3
|
100
|
95.9
|
Example 7
|
50
|
97.6
|
100
|
96.2
|
Comparative example 1
|
50
|
77.9
|
100
|
65.7
|
Comparative example 2
|
50
|
90.6
|
100
|
82.8
|
Comparative example 3
|
50
|
96.2
|
100
|
92.3 |