All solid-state sodium-ion batteries (ASS-SIBs) have great potential for application to large-scale energy storage devices due to their safety advantages by avoiding flammable organics and the abundance of sodium. In this study, plasma spraying was used to deposit Na 3 Zr 2 Si 2 PO 12 (NZSP) electrolyte for assembling high performance ASS-SIBs. NZSP electrolyte layers were deposited at different spray conditions using NZSP powders in different particle sizes. The factors influencing the microstructure and compositions of NZSP layers were examined by characterizing the compositions of splat and cross-sectional microstructures of the deposits. It was found that the preferential evaporation loss of Na and P elements occurs severely to result in a large composition deviation from initial powders and spray particle size is key factor which dominates their evaporation loss. The APS NZSP electrolytes present a dense microstructure with well bonded splats which is attributed to low melting point of NZSP. The apparent porosity of the as-sprayed NZSPs was lower than 3 %. The effect of annealing on the microstructure of APS NZSP was also investigated. The performance of typical APS NZSP was also evaluated by assembling an ASS-SIB battery with APS NaxCoO2 (NCO), Na 3 Zr 2 Si 2 PO 12 (NZSP) and Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 (LTO) as cathode, electrolyte and anode, respectively. Results showed that columnar-structured grains with a chemical inter-splat bonding were formed across the interfaces between electrodes and electrolyte. There is no evidence of inter-diffusion of zirconium, cobalt and silicon across the NCO/NZSP interface. With the preliminary battery, the solid electrolyte exhibited an ionic conductivity of 1.21 × 10 -4 S cm -1 at 200 o C. The SIB can operate at 2.5 V with a capacity of 10.5 mA h g -1 at current density of 37.4 μA cm -2 .

In this work, thermally sprayed sustainable coatings with spray additives recycled from dry alkaline batteries and solid-oxide fuel cells are developed to allow the growth of drought-resistant plants like moss, microclover and chamomile. It is assumed that these plants anchor to the coating with their rhizoids and hence can be grown without the presence of soil. Preliminary tests of a thermally sprayed Yttrium Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) ceramic coating on sheet metal confirms the growth of chamomile plant.

The present work deals with a Laves phase C14 AB2 alloy, namely (TiZr)(VNiMnCrSn)2. The alloy in many ways is a good alternative to a rare earth AB5 alloy with a superior capacity reaching a value of 400 mAh/g. A drawback with this alloy is that it is difficult to activate and therefore it is desirable to develop processing techniques which would readily activate the alloy. In this study we have plasma processed the alloy so as to see if this processing would exercise a positive effect on activation. AB2 powder was therefore fed to plasma torch with 25 kW power. The powders of -325 mesh had a range of particles sizes, the finer ones were evaporated and condensed into nanoparticles less than 100 nm in size. The larger ones spheroidized and were collected in the form of two groups of powders. We have characterized all three groups of powders both chemically and the latter two in terms of electrochemical performance.

In this work, pure silicon and Ni-P coated silicon powders were cold sprayed on copper foil. To thicken coating layers, 2-pass and 3-pass coatings were carried out. In the case of Ni-P coated silicon powders, coated anodes show excellent charge-discharge characteristics after two passes. For the pure silicon powders, however, even if a 2-pass operation is performed, the additional attached silicon mass is only 2~3 %. This means that multi-pass spraying is not an effective way to increase the thickness of pure silicon coatings produced by cold spraying.

Lithium-ion batteries have high energy efficiency and good cycling life and are considered as one of the best energy storage device for hybrid and/or electrical vehicle. Still, several problems must be solved prior to a broad adoption by the automotive industry: energy density, safety and costs. To enhance both energy density and safety, the current study aims at depositing binder-free cathode materials using inductively-coupled thermal plasma. In a first step, lithium iron phosphate LiFePO 4 powders are synthesized in an inductively-coupled thermal plasma reactor and dispersed in a conventional polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder. Then, binder-free LiFePO 4 coatings are directly deposited onto nickel current collectors by solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS). These plasma-derived cathodes (with and without PVDF binder) are assembled in button cells and tested. Under optimized plasma conditions, cyclic voltammetry shows that the electrochemical reversibility of plasma-derived cathodes is improved over that of conventional sol-gel derived LiFePO 4 cathodes. Further results related to the substitution of iron with manganese in the SPPS precursors (LiMPO4, where M = Fe or Mn) are discussed.

Solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS) is a thermal spray process in which deposits are formed by injecting solutions with the appropriate chemistry directly into the plasma. The deposits consist of grains or particles as small as ~20nm, and may be very porous or nearly dense, depending on the solution and deposition parameters. Recently, the potential of SPPS to deposit fine particle, porous coatings suitable for use as electrochemical electrodes for fuel cells and gas sensors has been demonstrated. This paper describes the efforts to deposit LiFePO 4 coatings which may be of interest for Li ion battery electrodes with SPPS. In this case, along with the porosity, surface area, and microstructure of the deposited coatings, crystal structure also plays an important role in determining the performance of the LiFePO 4 electrodes. Solution precursors with different solution chemistries containing lithium, iron and phosphorus ions are injected into hydrocarbon plasma issuing from a DC-arc torch. The effects of solution chemistries on coating morphologies and crystal structure were investigated. The results indicate that the porosity and crystal structure of the coatings can be tailored by selecting different additives.

Currently, graphite is used for anodes of the lithium ion battery. The higher capacity of a battery with the lithium alloy anode requires the development of a larger theoretical electrochemical capacity than graphite. Silicon is a promising anode material, having a theoretical capacity more than 10 times that of the graphite used in these lithium alloy batteries. There are two common methods of fabricating silicon anodes: direct deposition techniques such as electron beam deposition and sputtering; and slurry coating of silicon particles with a binder. Alternative methods are being investigated. One of such methods is cold spray. In this study, numerical simulation of, and experiments investigating, cold spray conditions and the performances of cold-sprayed silicon anodes are presented. Silicon was cold-sprayed on copper foil substrates using three different starting materials (with particle sizes of 4.65 µm, 6.74 µm and 9.63 µm). First cycle efficiency was about 90%. Charge capacity initially improves with cycling (up to the 10th cycle). This is probably due to better electrolyte soaking during the first several cycles. A decrease in charge capacity is observed upon further cycling.

A NAS battery cell is comprised of a sodium negative electrode and a sulfur positive electrode separated by a solid electrolyte made of beta-alumina, housed within a cylindrical aluminum container. The container is exposed highly corrosive materials, but have to be designed to deliver 4500 charge/ discharge cycles over a 15-year operating life. Studies have shown that a plasma sprayed Fe-75Cr alloy coating provides an effective protection layer. The major challenge to implementing this technology was the development of methods to apply plasma spray coatings in high volume mass production of the cells. This paper describes the development of high speed plasma spray guns optimized for volume manufacturing conditions, and the quality and reliability of NAS cells using this technology demonstrated over a period of nine years in laboratory tests. In April 2002 TEPCO and NGK decided to launch commercial production of NAS batteries. By April 2003, NGK started operation of a new NAS battery manufacturing facility and plasma sprayed aluminum cell containers are now being produced at a rate of over 1300 per day.