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2026-09-15
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Li-Ion Battery Technology
Patent Highlights

Blind-hole patterned negative current collectors confining lithium plating in anode-free all-solid-state cells, void-volume-matched carbon black scaffolds for monosilane CVD silicon-carbon composites, and twin-boundary-rich single-particle NMC from washed spray-pyrolysis chloride precursors

Prospective High Impact Advancements

⚡
Electrolytes
All-Solid & Solid-Liquid
Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL)
Blind holes patterned into the negative current collector face that meets the solid electrolyte (aperture 0.01–1 μm, depth 1–10 μm, aperture/depth 0.01–0.1), confining lithium plating below the interface plane in an anode-free cell
Structure: hexagonal honeycomb with shared hole walls, reaching 20–95% of the 8–50 μm collector thickness
Samsung SDI
Filler of polypropylene sulfide with LiTFSI (88 : 12), added at 4 mass% of the solid electrolyte layer, occupying the voids between Li6PS5Cl particles and converting point contacts between them into surface contacts
Retention: 91% @100 cycles
BYD
Fiber substrate graded in density through its thickness – electrospun PVDF-HFP (600 nm filaments, 30% fiber area fraction) over melt-stretched PET (50 μm, 70%) – with the sparse side facing the silicon-carbon negative electrode
Puncture: 10.1 MPa, retention 90.8% @100 cycles
−
Anode
Negative Electrode
Cabot Corporation
Carbon black scaffold selected by its OAN : BET ratio (2.60, OAN 231.7 ml/100 g), matching agglomerate void volume to the silicon deposited from monosilane by CVD (500°C, 1.3 kPa) at 40.6 mass%
Pore size distribution: optimized for low crack formation and small Si domain size
Lanxi Zhide New Energy Materials
Carbon nanotubes grown in situ from a ferrocene-derived catalyst while silicon is deposited from monosilane (580°C), their exposed ends anchoring a 20–25 nm PVDF-HFP / LiTFSI / FEC elastic coating into the porous carbon core
Retention: 88.3% @300 cycles
CATL
Gel-state polyurethane cured in situ inside the already-coated silicon electrode from an amino-terminated polyether and hexamethylene diisocyanate in a LiFSI ether electrolyte (70°C, 12 hours), leaving 0.498 mass% gel at 16.5% layer porosity
Cycle life: 468 cycles to 80% capacity
+
Cathode
Positive Electrode
LG Energy Solution
Twin boundaries introduced into the nodules of single-particle NMC (twin density 2.72, area-weighted crystallites per nodule) through a washed spray-pyrolysis chloride precursor instead of a co-precipitated hydroxide
Resistance: 74.4 Ω @−10°C
Tianjin Rongbai Sikelande Technology
Two LMFP precursors co-sintered at 750°C, one regulated with LiH2PO4 for packing and one with MIL-125-NH2 (titanium metal-organic framework) for kinetics, giving coexisting 200 nm and 800 nm primary particles
Compacted density: 2.51 g/cm3
BASF
Zirconium introduced by co-precipitation and titanium added as TiO2 at the lithiation step, giving a mild surface enrichment of both elements (Zr intensity ratio 2.1, Ti 1.2 by NanoSIMS) on NMC at Ni : Co : Mn = 50 : 25 : 25
DCR: 62 Ω @−10°C
Benchmarking Experiments in Patents ⓘ
These benchmarks are drawn directly from experiments reported in the patents, where an inventive example incorporating the claimed innovation is compared against a comparative example that omits it while keeping the cell configuration, chemistry, and test conditions otherwise equivalent.
Cycle Retention with a Sulfur-Containing Polymer Filler in the Solid Electrolyte Layer (Samsung SDI)
91%
66%
Polypropylene sulfide / LiTFSI filler (88 : 12) at 4 mass% of the Li6PS5Cl layer vs. a layer of Li6PS5Cl and binder only (95 : 5) • capacity retention after 100 cycles, 0.1 C cycling, 1.0–2.8 V, Li2S-LiI positive electrode with a carbon black / Ag negative coating layer
Initial Capacity of Silicon Deposited in a Void-Matched Carbon Black Scaffold (Cabot Corporation)
698 mAh/g
238 mAh/g
Carbon black at OAN : BET = 2.60 carrying 40.6 mass% silicon from monosilane CVD vs. the silicon-free carbon black support • initial capacity in half-cells, C/20 and C/10 formation then C/3 cycling, electrode of 43.9 mass% composite with 43.9 mass% graphite, LiPAA binder and SWCNT
Cycle Life to 80% Capacity with In-Situ Cured Polyurethane Gel in the Silicon Electrode (CATL)
468 cycles
254 cycles
Curing liquid sprayed onto the coated electrode and cured to 0.498 mass% gel-state polyurethane, giving 16.5% layer porosity vs. the same electrode without curing liquid (35.0% porosity) • cycles to 80% of first-cycle discharge capacity, NCM811 full cells, 0.33 C charge / 0.1 C discharge, 25°C
Low-Temperature Resistance of Twin-Boundary-Rich Single-Particle NMC (LG Energy Solution)
74.4 Ω
102.0 Ω
Washed spray-pyrolysis chloride precursor giving a twin density of 2.72 vs. single-particle material from a co-precipitated hydroxide precursor (twin density 1.10) • resistance at −10°C, 2 C discharge for 18 s after 0.1 C charge to SOC 20, coin half-cells (lower is better)

Recently Published Company Chapters
(Solid-state / Semi-solid Li-ion Battery Innovation & Patent Review)

🏢
Japan
Maxell
Technology Assessment: Maxell already sells sulfide all-solid-state cells in volume production – a position few developers hold. The chapter examines how an architecture carrying current collection and stack compliance inside the pressed electrode body positions against higher-capacity negative electrodes, why holding interfacial contact without external stack pressure remains the central scale-up question, and how public statements align with what the patent portfolio reveals about development priorities.
Product Development Pathway
(5 R&D Concepts)
Two-stage pressing of pre-densified composite granules – splitting densification across successive steps so electrode density is retained as the pressed area grows, without higher-pressure equipment. Bilayer solid electrolyte sheet pairing a lithium-reactive layer with an argyrodite conduction layer, arresting dendrite propagation inside the separator rather than at the negative electrode interface. Further concepts address volume-change accommodation at high-capacity negative electrodes, interfacial stability where cathode potentials sit beyond the electrolyte window, compliance layers that hold contact without an external stack fixture, and processing routes that keep those layers compatible with existing electrode manufacturing lines.
Key Synergies
A pressed-body process architecture that every material concept reaches the cell through – densification, interfacial stabilization and volume-change compliance advancing together toward the electrode areas and capacities a well-rounded product launch requires.
Read Full Chapter →
🏢
Japan
Mitsui Kinzoku
Technology Assessment: Mitsui Kinzoku supplies sulfide electrolyte to cell makers rather than building cells itself, and produces its own lithium sulfide feedstock. The chapter examines how that upstream position shapes process efficiency, why moving from batch consolidation to continuous pressing remains the central scale-up question for a self-supporting electrolyte sheet, and how public statements align with what the patent portfolio reveals about development priorities.
Product Development Pathway
(6 R&D Concepts)
Two-stage reduction route to the lithium sulfide feedstock – a carbon-limited first step finished under a reducing gas, so the raw material every electrolyte grade is fired from is produced in-house at a controlled purity. Self-supporting electrolyte sheet pressed between high-proof-stress metal foils, where the clamping member governs the stiffness the finished sheet reaches and its resistance to lithium penetration. Further concepts address an alternative crystalline phase pursued for higher ionic conductivity, particle size reduction that avoids the surface penalty milling carries, suppression of hazardous gas release to relax the customer's dry-room specification, and a coating holding cathode interface resistance stable in storage.
Key Synergies
A vertically integrated pathway in which one in-house feedstock sets the ionic conductivity of every downstream grade – powder handling, cathode interface protection and sheet forming advancing together toward a material the customer qualifies rather than develops.
Read Full Chapter →