Encapsulated lithium particles and methods of making and use thereof

Abstract

An encapsulated lithium particle including: a core comprised of at least one of: lithium; a lithium metal alloy; or a combination thereof; and a shell comprised of a lithium salt, an oil, and optionally a binder, and the shell encapsulates the core, and the particle size is from 10 to 500 microns. Also, disclosed is a method of making the particle and using the particle in electrical devices such as a capacitor or a battery.

1 - 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A method of making encapsulated lithium particles, comprising:
 contacting lithium-containing core particles and a shell source material comprising a complex lithium metal salt, an oil, and a solvent; and   removing the solvent to produce the encapsulated lithium particles comprising a lithium-containing core and a shell encapsulating the core, the shell comprising the complex lithium metal salt and the oil.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the core consists essentially of elemental lithium metal. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the lithium salt is selected from the group consisting of LiPF 6 , LiBF 4 , LiClO 4 , LiAsF 6 , LiF 3 SO 3 , lithium bis-oxalatoborate, lithium fluoro-oxalatoborate or mixtures thereof,   the solvent is selected from the group consisting of THF, methylene chloride, toluene, diethyl ether, monoglyme, diglyme, n-methyl pyrolidinone, dimethyl acetamide, dimethyl formamide, or mixture thereof, and   the method is accomplished entirely below the melting point of lithium.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein a concentration of the lithium salt in the shell source material is of from 0.1 to 4 M, and the concentration of oil in the shell source material is from 0.1 to 30 wt % based on the total weight of the shell. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein contacting and removing are performed at from 15° C. to 150° C. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein removing the solvent is accomplished by evaporation, filtration, centrifugation, or combination thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 washing the lithium-containing core particles with a cleaning solvent prior to contacting the core particles with the shell source material, the cleaning solvent being selected from the group consisting of hexane, heptane, toluene, chloroform, benzene, THF, methylene chloride, diethyl ether, or a mixture thereof.   
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A method of making a lithium electrode article, comprising:
 spraying a mixture comprised of encapsulated lithium particles comprising a lithium containing core, and a shell comprising a lithium salt, an oil, a binder, and an organic solvent, onto at least a portion of a surface of a carbon electrode.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the resulting sprayed mixture is dried for from 1 min to 12 hrs.