Apple is working with the U.S. Government on Lithium Ion Battery technology for consumer, medical, aerospace & other applications

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that's a different one to be sure. This initial stage of this invention was covered in an IP report that we posted back in February 2021 titled "Apple is working with the U.S. Government on new Coatings for Cathode Active Materials for Mobile Batteries & Beyond." Today, another aspect of this project / invention was published by the U.S. Patent Office. Apple's invention includes U.S. government support under WFO Proposal No. 85C85. This invention was made under a CRADA 1500801 between Apple Inc. and Argonne National Laboratory operated for the United States Department of Energy. It's noted that the U.S. government has certain rights in the invention.

Today's patent extends Apple's original work as noted above with a new focus relating to Synergistic Additives for High Volume Lithium Ion Batteries.

In Apple's patent background they note that Li-ion batteries are widely used as the power sources in consumer electronics. Consumer electronics need Li-ion batteries which can deliver higher volumetric energy densities and sustain more discharge-charge cycles. A Li-ion battery typically works at a voltage up to 4.45 V (full cell voltage).

A battery life cycle can deteriorate due to instability of cathode structure and electrolyte degradation. The cathode material stability can be improved by the modification of LiCoO.sub.2 such as doping and surface coating. Limited progress has been made in developing electrolytes that can enable both high volumetric energy densities and long battery cycling life. Most existing electrolytes suffer from poor ability to form stable cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) and/or SEI, leading to fast interfacial impedance growth and capacity decay.

Apple's patent summary presented below could only be appreciated by Engineers and Scientists working in the field of battery technology. For us mere mortals, this engineering dialect is closely related to Vulcanese.

In a first aspect, the disclosure is directed to an electrolyte fluid including tris(trimethylsilyl)borate (TMSB), pro-1-ene-1, 3-sultone (PES), and methylene methanedisulfonate (MMDS).

In a second aspect, the disclosure is directed to an electrolyte fluid including TMSB, fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), butane sultone (BS), and PES.

In a third aspect, the disclosure is directed to an electrolyte fluid including TMSB, FEC, propane sultone (PS), and LiBF.sub.4.

In a fourth aspect, the electrolyte fluid can include an electrolyte salt selected from LiPF.sub.6, LiBF.sub.4, LiClO.sub.4, LiSO.sub.3CF.sub.3, LiN(SO.sub.2F).sub.2, LiN(SO.sub.2CF.sub.3).sub.2, LiBC.sub.4O.sub.8, Li[PF.sub.3(C.sub.2CF.sub.5).sub.3], LiC(SO.sub.2CF.sub.3).sub.3, and a combination thereof. In some variations, the salt is LiPF.sub.6.

In a fifth aspect, the electrolyte fluid can include a solvent selected from propylene carbonate (PC), ethylene carbonate (EC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC), diethyl carbonate (DEC), ethyl-methyl carbonate (EMC), ethyl propionate (EP), butyl butyrate (BB), methyl acetate (MA), methyl butyrate (MB), methyl propionate (MP), propylene carbonate (PC), ethyl acetate (EA), propyl propionate (PP), butyl propionate (BP), propyl acetate (PA), butyl acetate (BA), and a combination thereof. In some variations, the solvent is selected from PC, EC, PP, EP, and a combination thereof. In some variations, the solvent comprises PC, EC, PP, and EP.

In a sixth aspect, the electrolyte fluid includes an additive selected from lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (LiDFOB), vinyl ethylene carbonate (VEC), propane sultone (PS), fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), succinonitrile (SN), vinyl carbonate (VC), adiponitrile (ADN), ethyleneglycol bis(2-cyanoethyl)ether (EGPN), and/or 1,3,6-hexanetricarbonitrile (HTCN), and a combination thereof. In some variations, the additive is selected from PS, FEC, SN, HTCN, and a combination thereof. In some variations, the additive includes PS, FEC, SN, and HTCN.

In a seventh aspect, the invention is directed to a battery cell. The battery cell can include a cathode having a cathode active material disposed on a cathode current collector, and an anode having an anode active material disposed on an anode current collector. The anode is oriented towards the cathode such that the anode active material faces the cathode active material. A separator is disposed between the cathode active material and the anode active material. An electrolyte fluid as described herein is disposed between the cathode and anode.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 s a top-down view of a battery cell; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a battery cell. The battery cell #100 may correspond to a lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery cell that is used to power a device used in a consumer, medical, aerospace, defense, and/or transportation application.

Later the patent further lists that these batteries could be used with a portable electronic device, such as a laptop computer, tablet computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), digital camera, and/or portable media player.

Apple's patent FIG. 3A above depicts a plot of energy retention as a function of cycle number for Li-ion batteries at 25° C. with electrolyte fluid additives LiDFOB and PS (302), LiDFOB, PS, PES, and MMDS (304), LiDFOB, PS, PES, MMDS, and TMSB (306).

Patent FIG. 3B depicts a plot of energy retention as a function of cycle number for Li-ion batteries at 45° C. with electrolyte fluid additives LiDFOB and PS (302), LiDFOB, PS, PES, and MMDS (304), LiDFOB, PS, PES, MMDS, and TMSB (306).

Patent FIG. 3C depicts a plot of relaxation RSS growth as a function of cycle number for Li-ion batteries at 20% state of charge (SOC) at 25° C. with electrolyte fluid additives LiDFOB and PS (302), LiDFOB, PS, PES, and MMDS (304), LiDFOB, PS, PES, MMDS, and TMSB (306).

Patent FIG. 3D depicts a plot of 20% SOC relaxation RSS growth as a function of cycle number for Li-ion batteries at 20% charge and 45° C. with electrolyte fluid additives LiDFOB and PS (302), LiDFOB, PS, PES, and MMDS (304), LiDFGB, PS, PES, MMDS, and TMSB (306).

For more details, review Apple's patent application number US 20230108353.

Apple Inventors

Posted by Jack Purcher on April 06, 2023 at 09:46 AM in 1A. Patent Applications, Devices, Components | Permalink | Comments (0)