Slug-Flow Reactor Manufacturing of Uniform Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese Oxide Microparticles for Battery Cathodes

电池正极用均匀镍钴锰氧化物微粒的段塞流反应器制造

• 批准号: 1940948
• 负责人: Mo Jiang
• 金额: $ 52.9万
• 依托单位: Virginia Commonwealth University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1940948&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Slug; Flow; Reactor; Manufacturing; Uniform

With expanding demand of lithium-ion batteries in portable electronic devices, such as smartphones and iPads and environmental-friendly vehicles (e.g., electric and hybrid vehicles), it is important to further improve safety, extend battery life, increase charge capacity, and reduce cost. A key missing component is effective and efficient manufacturing of complex active cathode materials, such as nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide micron-sized particles, at needed production scales. Cathode microparticle quality and uniformity are difficult to control with current reactor technologies, requiring post-synthesis procedures such as milling and sieving to narrow the particle size distribution. This risks product quality and reduces production efficiency. This award supports research in an innovative slug-flow reactor manufacturing process to directly produce well-controlled microparticles for advanced battery performance and accelerated scale-up. The availability of controllable cathode materials makes electronic devices using lithium-ion batteries safer and of better quality at a lower cost. These advancements in battery technology contribute to the economic competitiveness of the U.S. One impact of this research is reduced environmental impact due to efficient materials use and increased battery life. The project engages women and under-represented minorities and encourages their active participation in the research project. The project develops education modules for use in courses such as chemical reaction engineering and senior design. Participation in the Dean’s Undergraduate Research Initiative, Early Research Initiative, and Discovery Program helps train undergraduate and high-school students.This research is to develop a new process for the manufacture of uniform nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) oxide microparticles to serve as cathodes in lithium-ion batteries. It explores a continuous slug-flow manufacturing technology. Microscopically, in a slug-flow reactor, each particle experiences the same environment with spatially uniform reaction kinetics and hydrodynamics conditions throughout the nucleation and growth process, leading to uniform particles with controlled compositions, microstructures and properties. Macroscopically, the manufacturing setup and conditions can remain the same while allowing convenient tuning of the production rate, i.e., scaling up or scaling down. The slug flow process is also equipped with in-line bright-field imaging for microparticle monitoring and quality control. The research advances the fundamental understanding of microparticle nucleation, growth, and reaction engineering. It also studies the link between microparticles with high uniformity and controlled spatial composition and battery performance, which sheds light on a rational way to produce next-generation battery materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

随着智能手机和iPad等便携式电子设备以及环保汽车（例如电动汽车和混合动力汽车）对锂离子电池的需求不断扩大，进一步提高安全性、延长电池寿命、增加充电容量和降低能耗非常重要。成本缺失的一个关键因素是在所需的生产规模下有效且高效地制造复杂的活性阴极材料，例如镍钴锰氧化物微米级颗粒，阴极微粒的质量和均匀性难以控制。使用当前的反应器技术，需要进行研磨和筛分等后合成程序来缩小粒度分布，这会危及产品质量并降低生产效率。该奖项支持创新的段流反应器制造工艺的研究，以直接生产良好控制的产品。可控阴极材料的可用性使得使用锂离子电池的电子设备更安全、质量更好、成本更低。这项研究的一个影响是，由于有效的材料使用和延长的电池寿命，减少了对环境的影响。该项目针对女性和代表性不足的少数群体，鼓励他们积极参与该研究项目，并开发了用于课程的教育模块。作为化学反应工程和高级设计，参与院长本科生研究计划、早期研究计划和发现计划有助于培养本科生和高中生。这项研究旨在开发一种制造制服的新工艺。它探索了一种连续弹流制造技术，在微观上，在弹流反应器中，每个颗粒都经历相同的环境，具有空间均匀的反应动力学。整个成核和生长过程中的流体动力学条件，从而产生具有受控成分、微观结构和性能的均匀颗粒。可以保持不变，同时允许方便地调整生产率，即放大或缩小，段塞​​流过程还配备了用于微粒监测和质量控制的在线明场成像。它还研究了具有高均匀性和受控空间组成的微粒与电池性能之间的联系，这为生产下一代电池材料的合理方法提供了线索。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定奖项。使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Synthesis and Theoretical Modeling of Suitable Co-precipitation Conditions for Producing NMC111 Cathode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c01805
• 发表时间: 2022-09
• 期刊: Energy & Fuels
• 作者: Jethrine H. Mugumya;M. Rasche;Robert F. Rafferty;Arjun Patel;S. Mallick;Mingyao Mou;J. A. Bobb;Ram B. Gupta;Mo Jiang

Slug flow synthesis of NCMA: Effect of substitution of cobalt with aluminum on the electrochemical performance of Ni-rich cathode for lithium-ion battery

• DOI: 10.1016/j.mtener.2024.101545
• 发表时间: 2024-03
• 期刊: Materials Today Energy
• 影响因子: 9.3
• 作者: Arjun Patel;S. Mallick;Jethrine H. Mugumya;Nicolás Lopez-Riveira;Sunuk Kim;Mo Jiang;M. Paranthaman;M. Rasche;Herman Lopez;Ram B. Gupta

Low-cobalt active cathode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries: synthesis and performance enhancement methods

• DOI: 10.1039/d2ta08251a
• 发表时间: 2023-01-19
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
• 影响因子: 11.9
• 作者: Mallick, Sourav;Patel, Arjun;Gupta, Ram B. B.
• 通讯作者: Gupta, Ram B. B.