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NEI Expands Selection of Materials for Lithium-ion & Sodium-ion Batteries

January 13, 2022

Somerset, New Jersey (USA) – Today, NEI Corporation announced customers can now order from an expanded selection of cathode, anode, and solid electrolyte materials for both lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. The company, which is a leader in the development, manufacture, and supply of specialty materials, has been a go-to organization for producing and delivering custom powders and dispersions of particles in liquids and polymers, as well as electrodes cast on metal foil.

NEI offers a variety of battery materials, with a particular forte in producing specialty materials with compositions and particle morphologies that are not commonplace. In addition, NEI has expertise in producing composite particles that have a surface coating. Off-the-shelf products are sold under the tradename NANOMYTE®.

“We want our customers to easily access high quality and consistent battery materials so they can focus on their core mission,” said Dr. Ganesh Skandan, CEO of NEI Corporation. “The NEI team stands ready, willing, and able to produce and supply materials that our customers want, in any quantity needed, for them to pursue their commercialization efforts.”

Particle Size Distribution graph of Na0.44MnO2+x , which is typical of most of NEI's sodium based cathode/anode powders

Particle size distribution (PSD) of Na0.44MnO2+x , which is typical of most of NEI’s sodium based cathode/anode powders.

NEI has been routinely supplying increasing quantities of simple metal oxide compositions such as Na0.44MnO2+x and Na0.7MnO2+x with a narrow particle size distribution. The portfolio of sodium-ion compositions now includes more complex materials, such as sodium iron phosphate (NaFePO4), sodium nickel phosphate (NaNiPO4), sodium titanium phosphate (NaTi2(PO4)3), sodium chromium oxide (NaCrO2), and others. The average aggregate particle size (D50) for most compositions can be tailored to be in the range of 1 – 2 µm, with the primary particles being much smaller. The particle structure can be further tuned to include a surface coating of carbon or a conducting polymer, such as polyaniline, PANI, or an ionically conducting ceramic material. Some of the materials have been tested and validated in-house using half-cell configuration (i.e., sodium metal anode). For example, Na0.44MnO2+x has a second cycle charge and discharge capacity that is > 105 mAh/g.

Second cycle charge/discharge profile of Na0.44MnO2+x cathode powder

In addition to engineering the particle morphology, all sodium-based cathode and anode materials can be supplied as cast electrodes on a current collector of choice. Customers can specify the active material, binder content, amount of conducting carbon and active material per unit area (in case of cathode and anode).

NEI Corporation has built a reputation for supplying consistent and high-quality solid electrolyte materials – oxide materials, such as Al-doped lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO) and tantalum-doped LLZO (LLZTO), phosphate compounds, such as LATP or LAGP, and a variety of sulfide-based materials. While the average particle size (D50) for these standard powders is in the 3 – 5 microns range, customers can request a smaller D50.

Cole-Cole plot of sintered LAGP pellet

Cole-Cole plot of sintered LAGP pellet

The ionic conductivity of the oxide materials, measured in-house using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy in a test cell shown in the inset of the picture (left), is in the range of 1 x 10-4 S/cm to 5 x 10-4 S/cm, and that of sulfides can be as high as 1 x 10-3 S/cm.

A recent and exciting development has been the offering of composite solid electrolyte materials in the form of either a polymer-based dispersion or cast membrane. Customers can choose any oxide ceramic solid electrolyte and a base polymer or co-polymer from PEO, PVDF, PVDF-HFP, and PAN. The type of lithium salt in the polymer can be selected from LiTFSI, LiClO4, LiFSI, and LiBOB.

In addition to increasing the suite of materials being offered, NEI has developed new materials synthesis capabilities, which serve as demonstration stations for exploring new compositions that are difficult to produce using conventional processing. A case in point is precursor materials obtained from recovered nickel, cobalt and manganese salts from recycled lithium-ion batteries. The solution-precipitation setup, installed at NEI, serves as a test-bed to determine processing parameters for materials such as NMC532 and NMC622, or any mixed metal oxide for that matter.

There is also increasing interest in cathode materials that are fluorinated and/or contain vanadium, which as multiple valence states and can lead to high capacities. To this end, NEI has produced LiFeSO4F and LiVPO4F with a high degree of crystallinity and phase purity.

Overall, the introduction of these new materials and processes will provide new capabilities to lithium battery developers and manufacturers to enable practical solid-state batteries. Dr. Skandan adds, “It is exciting for the team at NEI to tread on uncharted waters and explore synthesis and processing of new materials, and particularly using newly developed processes. We welcome the opportunity to serve the needs of the Battery community.”

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About NEI: Founded in 1997, NEI develops, manufactures, and sells advanced materials for a broad range of industrial customers around the world. The company’s core competencies are in designing, developing, and producing products that meet the specific application needs of its customers. More importantly, NEI is a solutions provider, working closely with customers to produce and implement materials for their applications. NEI’s products, which are sold under the registered trademark NANOMYTE®, are backed by a suite of issued and pending patents. NEI’s products include:  Lithium-ion Battery Materials, Na-ion Battery Materials, Functional & Protective Coatings, and Specialty Nanoparticle-based products. NEI also offers associated materials characterization and testing services.

For more information, give us a call or email us.

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NEI introduces NANOMYTE® SE-50, Polymer-Ceramic Composite Electrolyte

May 22, 2018

Somerset, NJ (USA) – NEI Corporation is excited to introduce its latest product: NANOMYTE® SE-50. The solid electrolyte is a hybrid, polymer-ceramic composite material for use in solid state lithium batteries. SE-50 has high Li+ ionic conductivity, is compatible with 5V cathode materials, and provides very low resistance in the cell, making the innovative material unique among available solid electrolytes.

The two key challenges for achieving high performance solid state batteries are the low ionic conductivity of many solid electrolytes and the large impedance posed by the electrode-electrolyte interface. SE-50 has been engineered to address these challenges by having a high Li+ ionic conductivity, combined with low interfacial resistance between the electrode and solid electrolyte. These properties are enabled by the unique elastomeric self-adhesive properties of the solid electrolyte. In addition, SE-50 has excellent electrochemical stability, which allows its use with high voltage cathode materials, such as NMC.

NANOMYTE® SE-50 is used as the separator and is added to the electrode as well, where it can be cast either into a free standing film or directly onto a cathode tape for cell assembly. When fabricating cells, the polymer-ceramic electrolyte is incorporated into the electrode tape in order to confer ionic conductivity to the electrode. This is in contrast to cells using a liquid electrolyte, where the liquid electrolyte molecules can get access to the pores in the electrode. When used in conjunction with traditional binders, such as PVDF, SE-50 serves as a conductive binder to afford Li+ conductivity in the electrodes and reduce the interfacial resistance between the cathode and electrolyte. After the cathode containing NANOMYTE® SE-50 is fabricated, the solid electrolyte can then be cast directly onto the cathode tape. The cathode and separator layers can then be combined with the anode to complete cell assembly.

Learn More »

About NEI Corporation:

NEI Corporation is an application driven company that utilizes nanotechnology to develop and produce advanced materials. The company’s core competencies are in synthesizing nanoscale materials and prototyping products that incorporate advanced materials. NEI Corporation offers cathode and anode materials (both powders and coated electrodes), and solid state electrolytes for use in lithium-ion batteries. We produce battery materials through our scalable and economical solid state synthesis process, which is adaptable to different materials compositions and particle morphologies.

For more information, give us a call or email us.

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Solid Electrolytes: Are we there yet?

Solid Electrolytes for Lithium-ion and Lithium-Sulfur Batteries: A Safer Solution

Lithium-ion batteries have provided a lightweight energy-storage solution that has enabled many of today’s high-tech devices – from smartphones to electric cars. Although these batteries are generally safe, fire and explosion concerns have caused the industry to seek solutions. The importance of safety has been highlighted by several rare, yet highly publicized battery hazards such as the explosion in a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner’s cargo hold in 2013 and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 catching fire, which resulted in the recall of more than 1 million smartphones in 2016. The combustion is mainly due to leakage of the liquid electrolyte, or short-circuit of the electrodes caused by the failure of the polymer gel separator, which also contains liquid.[1] For this reason, it is desirable to replace liquid components used in existing lithium-ion batteries with all solid materials.[2] This would not only solve the safety issue, but would also provide several other significant advantages, such as greater energy storage ability (pound for pound at the battery pack level), no dendrite formation (tiny, fingerlike metallic projections called dendrites that can grow through the electrolyte layer and lead to short-circuits), chemical and electrochemical stability over a wide voltage window (0 – 6V), and exceptionally long cycle life (>50,000 cycles)[3].

Solid state electrolytes can be broadly classified into three categories: (1) inorganic electrolytes, (2) solid polymer electrolytes (SPE), and (3) composite electrolytes. As the performance of batteries depends on the diffusion of lithium ions within the electrolyte, solid electrolytes need to have high ionic conductivity and negligible electronic conductivity. A summary is given here of the three classes of solid electrolyte materials. The data presented here is based on materials produced and measurements performed at NEI Corporation as part of NEI’s R&D program.

Inorganic Electrolytes

Inorganic solid state electrolytes present high lithium ionic conductivity at temperatures below their melting point. The highest room temperature conductivity reported for any inorganic solid electrolyte is 2.5 × 10−2 S/cm for Li9.54Si1.74P1.44S11.7Cl0.3,[4] which is comparable to the conductivity of a liquid electrolyte. Besides having impressive conductivity values, inorganic electrolytes are single ion conductors, allowing the lithium transference number to approach unity. These characteristics, and the absence of leakage and pollution, make the inorganic electrolyte a highly appealing electrolyte material for lithium-ion and lithium-sulfur batteries. Inorganic electrolytes can be either crystalline or amorphous (glass), or have mixed phases (glass-ceramic).

Sulfur Based Solid Electrolytes (Thio-LiSICONS)

One of the early crystalline lithium ion conductors was based on an oxide compound of lithium zinc germanium, Li14ZnGe4O16, which was reported by Hong.[5] This type of crystalline ion conductor is referred to as LISICON (lithium superconductor). Although the ionic conductivity of Li14ZnGe4O16 reaches 0.125 S/cm at 300°C, it is only 10-7 S/cm at room temperature. Efforts to improve the ionic conductivity of LISICON-type ion conductors have resulted in the replacement of oxygen by sulfur in the framework. Since the radius of S2- is greater than O2-, and S2- has better polarization capability than O2-, the substitution weakens the interaction between the crystal lattice and Li+ ions, thus fostering Li+ ion transport. The incorporation of sulfides in the form of partial sulfide substitution (e.g., oxy-sulfide[6]  compounds) or full sulfide substitution[7] can raise the room temperature conductivity of the electrolyte to about ~10-3 S/cm. An example of the highly conductive sulfur substituted LISICON ion conductor is , Lithium Germanium Phosphorous Sulfide (LGPS). Li10GeP2S12 is a superionic conducting solid that conducts lithium ions at room temperature with conductivity in the range of 10-4 S/cm to 10-2 S/cm, depending on material form (powder, pellet, or sintered pellet) and measurement conditions.

Since germanium is an expensive rare earth element, a similar material was synthesized replacing germanium with much less expensive tin, yielding a crystalline LISICON type ion conductor, Li10SnP2S12, Lithium Tin Phosphorous Sulfide (LSPS), which has conductivity slightly lower than that of LGPS, but is much more affordable. Basic characteristics of the Lithium Tin Phosphorous Sulfide powder produced at NEI Corporation are listed here. The solid electrolyte is phase pure and has Li-ion conductivity in the range of 10-4 to 10-2 S/cm (approaching that of liquid electrolytes) depending upon material/pellet processing conditions, and electrochemically stable up to 6V.

More recently, Li9.54Si1.74P1.44S11.7Cl0.3 and Li9.6P3S12 have been reported. Exceptional room temperature conductivity (2.5 x 10-2 S/cm for Li9.54Si1.74P1.44S11.7Cl0.3) as well as high stability (∼0 V versus Li metal for Li9.6P3S12) were achieved1. NEI has successfully produced the following sulfur based solid electrolytes: (LSPS – Li10SnP2S12, LGPS – Li10GeP2S12, β-LPS – Li3PS4, LPSCl – Li6PS5Cl, LSPSCl – Li9.54Si1.74P1.44S11.7Cl0.3, and LPS – Li9.6P3S12) in bulk quantities (gram to kilogram scale).

Oxide Based Garnet-Type Solid Electrolytes

Garnet-type lithium solid electrolytes have a general formula of Li5La3M2O12 where M can be Ta or Nb. These were first reported in 2005[8] and have been intensively studied in recent years. The most attractive property of this class of crystalline solid electrolyte is its excellent chemical stability against lithium metal and also against moisture, in addition to its high ionic conductivity. These materials can be handled in a dry room. An example of the Garnet-type solid electrolyte is Li6BaLa2Ta2O12, which displays a room temperature conductivity of 4 x 10-5 S/cm and a low grain boundary resistance.[9] When the Garnet-type solid electrolyte Li5La3M2O12 was partially substituted at the M site by Y or In, conductivity was further improved. For example, the composition Li5.5La3Nb1.75In0.25O12 showed an enhanced conductivity of 1.8 x 10-4 S/cm at 50 °C with a low activation energy of 49.2 kJ/mol.[10] Another composition, Li6.5La3Nb1.25Y0.75O12, showed a high conductivity of 2.7 x 10-4 S/cm at 25 °C.[11]

Most recently, a Garnet-type Lithium Lanthanum Zirconate (LLZO – Li7La3Zr2O12) has quickly become a promising solid electrolyte for all solid-state lithium and lithium ion batteries because of its high conductivity (> 10−4 S/cm) at room temperature, excellent thermal performance, and stability versus Li metal and oxygen. The material shows great potential to offer high energy density and minimize battery safety concerns to meet many applications in large energy storage systems such as electric vehicles and aerospace. LLZO exists in tetragonal and cubic crystal structures, with the cubic phase displaying about two orders of magnitude higher ionic conductivity than that of tetragonal phase. The cubic phase is stabilized by doping with Al or Ga.

Al or Ga-doped LLZO (Li6.24La3Zr2Al0.24O11.98 and Li6.24La3Zr2Ga0.24O11.98) have been synthesized at NEI Corporation in various batch sizes. Both the materials are fairly phase pure, crystallized in cubic phase (see PXRD pattern) and have room temperature conductivity in the order of 10-4 – 10-5 S/cm, depending upon the pellet processing and annealing condition (see the impedance plot below). Negligible electronic conductivity, large band gap (~6 eV) and wide electrochemical stability window (0 – 6V), are attractive properties for this material.[12]

Oxide Based Perovskite-Type Solid Electrolytes

Lithium Lanthanum Titanate (LLTO), Li0.5La0.5TiO3, with Perovskite structure has been considered to be a promising solid electrolyte material for lithium-ion and lithium-oxygen batteries due to numerous outstanding advantages, such as: (i) high lithium conductivity at room temperature, (ii) high lithium diffusion coefficient, (iii) low electronic conductivity, and (iv) electrochemical stability window larger than 4 V. NEI has prepared LLTO and various metal doped LLTO (e.g., Al-doped LLTO), and analyzed the crystal structure, particle size, and conductivity.

 

 

 

 

There are two challenges that LLTO electrolyte faces: grain boundary resistance and instability against lithium metal. Although the bulk conductivity of LLTO can reach 10-3 S/cm at room temperature, the grain boundary conductivity is relatively low (10-5 S/cm).[13]

Phosphate Based LISICON-Type Solid Electrolytes

Lithium Aluminum Titanium Phosphate (LATP) is a phosphate based LISICON (Lithium Super Ionic Conductor) with the general molecular formula Li1+xAlxTi2-x(PO4)3, which shows high ionic conductivity of ~10-3 S/cm for x = 0.3 composition. It is electrochemically stable above 1.8 V and thermally stable up to 1000 °C. Phosphate based LISICON type materials have applications in batteries, fuel cells, gas sensors, catalysis, and low thermal expansion ceramics. NEI has synthesized LATP compositions and its sodium analogs (NaSICON) and studied the conductivity.[14]

Sulfide Based Glassy and Glass-Ceramic Solid Electrolytes

Sulfur based glassy and glass-ceramic solid electrolytes, such as Li2S–SiS2[15] and Li2S–P2S5,[16] can achieve ionic conductivity of 10-5 S/cm to 10-3 S/cm due to the high polarizability of sulfur ions. A general composition of the Li2S–P2S5 system can be represented by x Li2S + (1-x) P2S5, where x is the molar fraction. The Li2S–P2S5 system varies widely in crystal form, crystal content, and the resulting ionic conductivity, depending on the composition and processing method. Usually, the grain-boundaries around crystal domains in Li2S–P2S5 glass–ceramics are surrounded by amorphous phases. Therefore, these glass-ceramic solid electrolytes often have lower grain boundary resistance than in polycrystalline systems, which results in improvement in the observed total conductivity.

The composition of x Li2S + (1-x) P2S5 when x = 0.75, or Li3PS4, represents the most stable chemical in the Li2S−P2S5 system. The crystal domains of Li3PS4 exist in either γ or b phase – among these b phase is the more ionically conductive material. β-Li3PS4 (β-LPS) is a “superionic” solid that conducts lithium ions at room temperature. β-LPS synthesized at NEI is phase pure and has a Li-ion conductivity of 10-4 – 10-5 S/cm, depending upon material/pellet processing conditions. The material is electrochemically stable versus lithium over a wide voltage window (0 – 5V).

Although the best of the inorganic solid electrolytes have demonstrated high ionic conductivity comparable to liquid electrolytes, several limitations have to be overcome before they can be widely used as solid electrolyte. First, bulk conductivity is usually higher than grain boundary conductivity, which makes the total conductivity smaller than the intrinsic bulk conductivity, unless the material is sintered at high temperature and pressure. A related and often asked question is that if sintering is not an economically viable method, what processing alternatives are available to utilize these highly ionic conducting powders? Second, a critical issue for the development of high power, solid-state lithium batteries is the high resistance at the electrode/solid electrolyte interface. Inorganic solid electrolytes are generally not flexible enough to handle the stress developed as a result of volumetric expansion/contraction of the electrodes. Therefore, how to create and maintain a favorable interface between the electrode and solid electrolyte is a challenge. Polymer electrolytes when used alone, or in combination with inorganic electrolytes, have the potential to address both of these issues pertaining to inorganic solid electrolytes.

Solid Polymer Electrolytes (SPE)

The most common solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) for rechargeable solid-state lithium batteries are composed of low lattice energy lithium salts (e.g., LiClO4, LiN(CF3SO2)2, LiCF3SO3, or LiBC4O8) dissolved in polyether-containing polymers such as poly(ethylene oxide), poly(propylene oxide), or poly(ethylene glycol). Other polymers have also been studied, such as polyphosphazenes, which have oligoethyleneoxy side chains to facilitate lithium ion conduction and reduce glass transition temperature (Tg). Since solid polymer electrolytes are flexible and can be easily made into free standing membranes, they have been predominantly used as solid electrolytes in a variety of electrochemical devices. A traditional dry, PEO-based electrolyte has a severe drawback in that its conductivity only becomes sufficient at elevated temperatures (above 60 °C). PEO is a semi-crystalline material where PEO crystalline and amorphous domains co-exist. It has been widely accepted that ion transport occurs in the amorphous region. PEO crystals melt above 60 °C and a jump of conductivity is observed above the melting point. To overcome this limitation, polymer gel electrolytes were developed. These are crosslinked polymer networks with liquid electrolyte imbibed to boost the room temperature ionic conductivity, which generally exceeds 1×10-3 S/cm. However, the liquid electrolyte in gel polymer electrolytes still poses safety issues, and the polymer gel has inferior mechanical properties. For these reasons, there is renewed interest in developing truly dry polymer electrolyte systems and some systems have room temperature conductivity values approaching 10-4 S/cm. We discuss only the 100% solid polymer electrolyte here.

One of the polymers developed at NEI Corporation using the copolymer strategy is H-polymer. As a 100% solid material, H-polymer combines the benefits of high room temperature lithium-ion conductivity (5 x 10-5 S/cm) with good mechanical properties of a solid polymer. H-polymer is a PEO-based copolymer with PEO segments in the polymer backbone that has four orders of magnitude higher room temperature conductivity than that of pure PEO. The significant improvement of room temperature conductivity is due to the amorphous nature of PEO segments in the copolymer. H-polymer can be used as a separator, or as a conductive binder for active cathode and anode materials.

Another series of copolymers that shows good room temperature conductivity has been reported in the literature.[17] These are POEA-g-PDMS or POEM-g-PDMS copolymers, which are graft copolymers made of grafted PEO chains and grafted PDMS (poly(dimethylsiloxane)) chains. The oligomeric nature of PEO segments prevents it from crystallizing and the low Tg PDMS segments make the polymer a rubbery flexible ionic conductor, where the conductivity reaches in the range of 10-5 S/cm to 10-4 S/cm at room temperature.

Composite Electrolytes

Composite electrolytes are SPEs with sub-micron or nano- sized inorganic particles dispersed in the polymer matrix. Adding inorganic particles induces a favorable interaction between the ceramic surface states and the anions of both the lithium salt and PEO segments, thereby promoting lithium-ion transport and inhibiting polymer crystallite formation. This results in enhanced ionic conductivity, promoting interfacial stability at Li/Li+ interface, suppressing the growth of dendrites, improving mechanical properties, and increasing Li+ transference number. It has been found that particle size is important and nanoparticles are more effective than larger particles. One to two orders of magnitude enhancement in room temperature ionic conductivity can be realized with the addition of ceramic nanoparticles in an SPE host, compared to the undispersed system, along with improvements in the physical, mechanical and electrochemical properties. A few of the ceramic nanoparticles that have been investigated that demonstrated a significant improvement in conductivity are Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2, and BaTiO3.

Most of the systems studied involve inert ceramic particles and PEO with lithium salt. NEI Corporation has explored producing composite electrolytes using active ionic conductive inorganic particles in a conductive polymer host. For example, by incorporating LLZO in H-polymer, we were able to fabricate mechanically sturdy electrolyte membranes/separators with conductivity approaching 10-4 S/cm.

Opportunity for New Materials Development

Market-driven interest in developing practical solid electrolyte materials for use in Lithium-ion and Lithium-sulfur batteries has created opportunities for producing materials with new compositions, chemistry and morphology. Being able to process the material in a usable form is the key to enabling commercial utilization of the solid electrolyte materials. Combining the attributes of inorganic and organic solid electrolyte materials offers a path to high ionic conductivity materials wherein the high ionic conductivity of inorganic electrolytes is combined with the processing advantages and superior mechanical properties of solid polymer electrolytes.

About NEI Corporation

NEI Corporation is an applications-driven company that develops and produces advanced materials. NEI Corporation offers specialty cathode and anode materials (both powders and coated electrodes), and solid state electrolytes for use in lithium-ion and lithium-sulfur batteries. NEI produces battery materials through a scalable and economical synthesis process, which is adaptable to different materials compositions and particle morphologies. The company also offers battery materials development and cell-level testing services.

Contact Us »

 


References:

[1] http://www.nydailynews.com/news/scientists-solve-mystery-flaming-laptops-article-1.445634

[2] https://chargedevs.com/newswire/japanese-researchers-use-superionic-conductors-as-electrolytes-for-solid-state-batteries/

[3] https://www.excellatron.com/advantage.htm

[4] Y. Kato, S. Hori, T. Saito, K. Suzuki, M. Hirayama, A. Mitsui, M. Yonemura, H. Iba, and R. Kanno, Nature Energy, 2016, 3, 438-446, and references therein

[5] H. Y.-P. Hong, Mater. Res. Bull., 1978, 13, 117.

[6] S. Kondo, K. Takada, and Y. Yamaura, Solid State Ionics, 1992, 53-56, 1183.

[7] J. H. Kennedy and Y. Yang, J. Solid State Chem., 1987, 69, 252.

[8] V. Thangadurai, and W. J. Weppner, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2005, 88, 411–418.

[9] V. Thangadurai, and W. J. Weppner, Adv. Funct. Mater., 2005, 15, 107–112.

[10] V. Thangadurai, and W. J. Weppner, J. Solid State Chem., 2006, 179, 974–984.

[11] S. Narayanan, F. Ramezanipour, and V. Thangadurai, J. Phys. Chem.C 2012, 116, 20154.

[12] T. Thompson et al, Energy Letters, 2017, 2, 462-468.

[13] C. W. Ban, and G. M. Choi, Solid State Ionics, 2001, 140, 285–292.

[14] N. Anantharamulu et al, J. Mater. Sci. 2011, 46, 2821.

[15] N. Machida, and T. Shigematsu, Chem. Lett. 2004, 33, 376–377.

[16] M. Tatsumisago, Solid State Ionics, 2004, 175, 13–18.

[17] Q. Hu, A. Caputo, D. R. Sadoway, J. Vis. Exp., 2013, 78, 50067.

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DOE SBIR/STTR Programs Highlights NANOMYTE® SSE-10 Solid Electrolyte

A Safer Replacement for Highly Flammable Liquids Currently Used in Li-ion Batteries

NEI replaced liquid with solid material that allows for a no-liquid battery.

“An all-solid lithium-ion battery architecture, based on the solid electrolyte developed at NEI, will lead to safer, high-energy batteries that are needed for consumer and industrial applications. These applications include hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles, portable consumer customer electronics (laptops, tablets, digital cameras, smart phones, etc.), renewable energy technologies (solar and wind energy) that use electrochemical storage, and power tools.”

NEI_SBIR_Highlight_LSPS_Pic

Read the full article on the DOE website: http://science.energy.gov/sbir/highlights/2015/sbir-2015-11-b/

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NEI Expands NANOMYTE® Lithium Battery Product Line

September 9, 2015

Somerset, New Jersey (USA) – NEI Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of specialty cathode, anode, and electrolyte materials for Lithium-ion batteries, has announced an expansion of its NANOMYTE® Lithium Battery Product Line. The new products include:

NEI also offers oxide and sulfide electrolyte powders and dispersions, such as:

Specialty compositions and particle morphologies of your choice can also be custom produced.

About NEI Corporation:
NEI offers cost-effective, comprehensive materials development, characterization, & electrochemical testing services to its customers. As a long, trusted source for materials used in lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors, we are also well positioned to reproducibly synthesize small and large quantities of custom cathode, anode, and solid electrolyte compositions. We create a custom materials solution to meet your requirements through a structured approach involving specified milestones, and all work is done in a highly confidential manner.

We look forward to serving your battery needs!

For more information, contact:
Ms. Krista Martin
+1 (732) 868‐3141
sales@neicorporation.com
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NEI Introduces Custom-Produced Solid Electrolyte Materials


June 17, 2015

Somerset, New Jersey (USA) – NEI Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of specialty cathode, anode, and electrolyte materials for Lithium-ion batteries, has announced an expansion of its services for producing Custom Solid Electrolyte Materials. Most commercial Lithium-ion batteries usually contain an electrolyte that is dissolved in flammable solvents. The use of a solid electrolyte eliminates the flammability issue associated with currently used liquid electrolytes. Customers can now purchase solid electrolyte materials with the composition of their choice. Whether it is an oxide material (e.g., LATP, LLTO, LNBO or any other mixed metal oxide) or a sulfide material (e.g., LPS, LSPS, or composites of sulfide containing compounds), NEI can produce powders anywhere in the range of small lot quantities to multiple kilograms. Additionally, the primary particle size can be reduced further into the ultrafine or nanoscale regime, if needed.

NEI has also developed processes to combine cathode particles and solid electrolyte materials. For example, in a composite morphology, the cathode and solid electrolyte particles are in intimate contact with each other and evenly distributed throughout the material. Customers can specify the cathode and solid electrolyte compositions of interest, and NEI can custom produce powders with the composite morphology. Similarly, the solid electrolyte material can be deposited as a conformal film on cathode particles. Ionic conductivity measurements indicate that the ionic conductivity of the pristine solid electrolyte is largely preserved when it is combined with the cathode materials (the ionic conductivity of pristine solid electrolyte is 8 x 10-4 S/cm, whereas the ionic conductivity of solid electrolyte combined with a cathode is 5 x 10-4 S/cm). Finally, the composite material can be mixed with an ionically conducting binder and cast as a dense film. By making solid state electrolyte materials available in a more useable form, it is our intent to make it easy for Li-ion battery researchers to develop the next generation all-solid-state Li-ion batteries.

NEI Custom Solid ElectrolytesNEI’s Custom Solid Electrolyte Materials services build upon NEI’s patent-pending, ready-to-cast, solid electrolyte materials. Over the past year, NEI has supplied multi-kilogram quantities of their newly developed solid electrolyte powder, NANOMYTE® SSE-10 (Li10SnP2S12 or LSPS). NANOMYTE® SSE-10, which has been used by a number of scientists and engineers for developing and prototyping “all solid” Lithium batteries, has also been made available in the form of a slurry (dispersion), NANOMYTE® SSE-10D, which can be cast into flexible tapes. SSE-10D is composed of surface-modified LSPS particles dispersed in organic solvent, which can be removed after the tape or film is formed.

CSE_Fig4Post Process Solid Electrolyte and Composite Powder into a Slurry and Tape

NEI Corporation has been a long trusted source for customized cathode and anode materials used in lithium batteries. The company specializes in developing new compositions and particle morphologies, including nanoscale particle engineering. NEI also has an extensive battery research and characterization facility, which includes multi-channel cell testers. The introduction of NEI’s service for custom produced solid electrolytes will provide new capabilities to lithium battery developers and manufacturers to enable practical solid state batteries.

For more information, see our slideshow on Custom Produced Solid Electrolytes »


About NEI Corporation:

NEI Corporation is an application driven company that utilizes nanotechnology to develop and produce advanced materials. The company’s core competencies are in synthesizing nanoscale materials and prototyping products that incorporate the advanced materials. NEI Corporation offers cathode and anode materials (both powders and coated electrodes), and solid state electrolytes for use in lithium-ion batteries. The company produces battery materials through a scalable and economical synthesis process, which is adaptable to different materials compositions and particle morphologies.

For more information, contact:
Ms. Krista Martin
+1 (732) 868‐3141
sales@neicorporation.com
###

View / Download Press Release (pdf)

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NEI Corporation and PneumatiCoat Technologies Sign Agreement to Jointly Develop and Market New Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries

September 9, 2014

Somerset, New Jersey (USA) – NEI Corporation (NEI) and PneumatiCoat Technologies (PCT) have initiated a collaboration to develop, produce, and market coated battery materials – cathodes, anodes, and solid electrolytes. The partnership will help serve the needs of customers interested in enhancing the performance of batteries through the use of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) coatings of active material particles. Key features of ALD-coated particles include improved cycle life, enhanced safety, and greater stability and abuse tolerance, particularly under higher temperature and voltage operation.

NEI Corporation has been a long trusted source for customized cathode and anode materials used in lithium batteries. The company specializes in developing new compositions and particle morphologies, including nanoscale particle engineering. NEI also has extensive battery research and characterization facility, which includes multi-channel cell testers. PneumatiCoat Technologies is a pioneer in autonomous coating systems that allow for high-rate manufacturing of ALD protected particles used in batteries and related energy storage devices. The ALD platform was originally developed in Europe, and PCT is now facilitating the transition of the ALD platform from slow and expensive to economical, robust and industrially-viable.

The NEI–PCT agreement allows customers access to ALD coatings on a variety of battery material compositions, including mixed metal oxides (Lithium Manganese Nickel Oxide – LMNO, NMC, LMO, NCA); phosphates, silicates, titanates, sulfides, graphite and silicon-based active materials. Customers have the flexibility to not only investigate new compositions and chemistries, but also consider the use of different ALD coatings, both passive and lithium-ion conducting. The NEI–PCT relationship provides customers with access to the technology cost-effectively.

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About NEI Corporation:

NEI Corporation is an application driven company that utilizes nanotechnology to develop and produce advanced materials. The company’s core competencies are in synthesizing nanoscale materials and prototyping products that incorporate the advanced materials. NEI Corporation offers cathode and anode materials (both powders and coated electrodes), and solid state electrolytes for use in lithium-ion batteries. The company produces battery materials through a scalable and economical synthesis process, which is adaptable to different materials compositions and particle morphologies. NEI’s products are sold under the registered trademark NANOMYTE®.

About PneumatiCoat Technologies LLC:
PneumatiCoat Technologies is the exclusive manufacturer of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) systems that operate using the low-cost spatial ALD production process, a must-have for integrating surface-customized materials into differentiated products in a cost-effective manner. The powder-on-demand system uses the principles of lean manufacturing to produce ALD-coated particles and objects. PCT provides services, systems, and products to support product customization and continuous improvement initiatives across a wide array of industries, and its innovative IP portfolio also includes exclusive rights to develop and manufacture ALD-enabled battery materials. PCT uses the trade name PICOSHIELD™.


For more information, contact us.

NEI Product Update for Solid Electrolyte Powder – NANOMYTE® SSE-10 (Li10SnP2S12)

October 22, 2013

Somerset, New Jersey – NEI Corporation announced today that over the past five months since the product launch of NANOMYTE® SSE-10, it has further enhanced the ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte powder by an order of magnitude higher at room temperature. The ionic conductivity at room temperature, in a compact pellet form, is 12 mS/cm (Conductivity vs. T). The ionic conductivity is similar to that of a liquid electrolyte, but the use of a solid state electrolyte, such as SSE-10, eliminates the flammability issue associated with currently used liquid electrolytes. The updated materials specification sheet for SSE-10 can be found here.

On May 14th, 2013, NEI Corporation had announced that the patent pending new material, Lithium-Tin-Phosphorous-Sulfide (Li10SnP2S12 or LSPS), was available for sale in powder form. LSPS belongs to a family of “superionic” solids which conduct lithium-ions at room temperature. Sulfide compounds with high Li-ion conductivity are not commonly available, and as such, the development of solid state electrolyte–based Li-ion batteries has been plagued by the lack of widespread availability of these difficult-to-produce materials. NEI has utilized its extensive background in the synthesis of advanced materials to develop a process for producing sulfide materials in a form that allows them to be used in Li-ion cells.

“By making solid state electrolyte powders readily available, our intent is to make it easy for Li-ion battery researchers to develop the next generation of all-solid-state Li-ion batteries,” said Dr. Ganesh Skandan, CEO of NEI Corporation. He added, “The NEI process is amenable to synthesizing variants of LSPS, such as compositional, morphology, and particle size changes.”

About NEI Corporation:
NEI Corporation is an application driven company that utilizes nanotechnology to develop and produce advanced materials. The company’s core competencies are in synthesizing nanoscale materials and prototyping products that incorporate the advanced materials. NEI Corporation offers cathode and anode materials (both powders and coated electrodes), and solid state electrolytes for use in lithium-ion batteries. We produce battery materials through our scalable and economical solid state synthesis process, which is adaptable to different materials compositions and particle morphologies.

For more information, contact:
Ms. Krista Martin
NEI Corporation
(732) 868‐3141
sales@neicorporation.com
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