Manufacturing Structured Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes Using Acoustophoresis

Scalable manufacturing of high-energy and high-power Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with fast charge behavior is crucial for lowering the cost and enhancing the performance of LIBs for electric vehicles (EVs) to meet DOE’s current target of $80/kWh by 2030.¹ Commercial LIBs are composed of planar electrode cell stacks that can be optimized for energy or power, but not both simultaneously. Structured electrodes (SEs) mitigate these performance trade-offs by using three-dimensional architecture in the anode or cathode to engineer porosity and tortuosity to enable fast ion transport in thick battery electrodes.^2,3 However, a scalable manufacturing process for creating SEs over the large areas at the time scales required for cost-effective LIB manufacturing is still needed. To address this, we have developed a manufacturing process based on principles of acoustophoresis. Using acoustic forces, acoustophoresis rapidly assembles particles in a fluid on a micron scale, generating SE patterns over large, cm-scale areas.^4,5 To date, we have used acoustophoretic principles to pattern SE cathodes made from size specific Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC-622). NMC-622 was selected as our electrode patterning material due to its relevance for EV applications. We have investigated how processing conditions can be used to tune the thickness and features of NMC-622 SEs and have conducted initial electrochemical testing.<br/><br/><b>References</b><br/>1. Department of Energy, <i>[Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap]</i>, U.S. (2020).<br/>2. C. L. Cobb and S. E. Solberg, <i>J. Electrochem. Soc.</i>, <b>164 </b>(7), A1339-A1241 (2017).<br/>3. K. Chen et al., <i>J. Power Sources,</i> <b>471</b>, 228475 (2020).<br/>4. D. S. Melchert et al., <i>Mater. Des.</i>, <b>202,</b> 109512 (2021).<br/>5. K. E. Johnson et al., <i>Mater. Des.,</i> <b>232</b>, 112165 (2023).<br/><br/><b>Acknowledgement</b><br/>This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) Award Number DE-EE0009112. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government. This work was partially carried out at the Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF) at Argonne National Laboratory, which is supported by the DOE, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the Vehicle Technologies Office, under the Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The MERF synthesized size-specific NMC-622 for the project.