Efficient Production of High-Energy Battery Electrode Materials

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are now one of the major power storage solutions. Unfortunately, the U.S. is particularly vulnerable to supply shortages of the active components needed for LIBs because virtually all large-scale productions of electrode materials are done outside the U.S. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) has attracted significant attention as a nickel/cobalt-free cathode material due to its high theoretical capacity, long cycle life, superior safety, environmental friendliness, and low cost. In the last five years, TDA has successfully developed a hydrothermal LFP synthesis process that can be scalable in continuous production. We will modify our process using our existing equipment, substituting Mn2+ (with a similar radius of Fe2+) at the transition metal Fe2+ site to form lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode materials. LMFP can increase the battery's energy density by up to 20%, reducing its size and weight. We will demonstrate our new scalable materials in 1 Ah pouch cells in Phase I. From this information, we will determine their suitability and estimate the total costs (materials, capital equipment) of our LMFP continuous production process at a full-scale plant in Phase II.