Abstract: Disclosed are compositions and methods for alleviating the problem of reaction of lithium or other alkali or alkaline earth metals with incompatible processing and operating environments by creating an ionically conductive chemical protective layer on the lithium or other reactive metal surface. Such a chemically produced surface layer can protect lithium metal from reacting with oxygen, nitrogen or moisture in ambient atmosphere thereby allowing the lithium material to be handled outside of a controlled atmosphere, such as a dry room. Production processes involving lithium are thereby very considerably simplified. One example of such a process is the processing of lithium to form negative electrodes for lithium metal batteries.
Type:
Application
Filed:
November 26, 2007
Publication date:
May 15, 2008
Applicant:
POLYPLUS BATTERY CORPORATION
Inventors:
Lutgard De Jonghe, Steven J. Visco, Yevgeniy S. Nimon, A. Mary Sukeshini