Anions and derived salts with high dissociation in non-protogenic solvents

This patent application is the U.S. National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2012/072858 filed Nov. 16, 2012, which claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/560,942, filed Nov. 17, 2011, each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

In solvents, either a non-protogenic, often referred to as “aprotic”, liquid or polymers bearing polar groups such as ethers, esters or nitriles, there is no solvation of the negative X − charge when attempting to induce ion conduction, i.e. forming an electrolyte, by dissolving a salt X − M + in such media. Solubility then dissociation of the ion pair X − M + is thus only effective when the anion X − does not require stabilization by forming hydrogen bonds, as in water, alcohols or amides RCONHR′ where R or R′═H, an organic radical. Thus the main anions used in practice are ClO 4 − , BF 4 − , PF 6 − , AsF 6 − , SbF 6 − , R f SO 3 − , [(R f SO 2 ) 2 N] − , and (R f BF 3 ) − where R f ═C n F 2n+1 , (0≧n≧8). Another family of anions are the so-called “Hückel anions”, such as 2-trifluoromethyl-4,5-dicyano-imidazole.

A main driving force for designing new anions is in the field of lithium batteries, in particular for highly conductive electrolytes where the polarizing lithium M + =Li is the countercation. The electrolyte in lithium batteries is subjected to extreme oxidizing conditions on the positive electrode side and extreme reducing conditions on the negative electrode side. ClO 4 − leads to explosive mixtures with organic solvents and polymers; BF 4 − and R f SO 3 − lead to a poorly conductive solution due to ion pairing; and AsF 6 − and SbF 6 − have as a core a heavy, highly toxic element. [(R f SO 2 ) 2 N] − or its higher homologues {CF 3 SO 2 N[S(O)(CF 3 )N] n SO 2 CF 3 } − are resistant to oxidation, but they do not passivate aluminum which is the only affordable positive electrode current collector. Most lithium batteries use LiPF 6 as a solute, which is far from satisfactory mainly since the salt has a propensity to equilibrate as LiPF 6 ⇄LiF+PF 5 , the latter being a highly reactive Lewis acid, progressively destroying the solvent undergoing carbocationic chemistry. Another problem with all the salts containing fluorine is the release of highly toxic HF in the case of fire, an incident that occurs presently at a rate of a few ppm/cell, unacceptable for large scale applications, like electric road transportations. Presently, it has been impossible to avoid using fluorine, the most electronegative element, to impart resistance to oxidation to the anions. For instance the Bis(oxalatoborate) anion {[(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ]B} − evolves CO 2 above 4 Volts vs. Li + :Li°.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a salt of formula X − M + , wherein M + is selected from Li, Na, K, an ammonium, a phosphonium, an imidazolium, a pyridinium, a pyrazolium and wherein X − is an anion formed from covalent linking of two negative moieties to a positive onium-type core.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to electrolytes comprising these salts.

Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to batteries comprising electrolytes of these salts.

FIG. 1 provides a diagram of an onium cation flanked by two negatively charged groups covalently attached to this central moiety.

The present invention provides salts of formula X − M + , wherein M + is selected from Li, Na, K, an ammonium, a phosphonium, an imidazolium, a pyridinium, a pyrazolium and wherein X − is an anion formed from covalent linking of two negative moieties to a positive onium-type core. The present invention also provides electrolytes and batteries comprising these salts.

To overcome shortcomings of conventional salts, which are all based on the principle of delocalization of the negative charge on the largest possible number of atoms, the anion of a salt of the present invention is formed from an onium-type cation flanked by two negatively charged groups covalently attached to this central moiety, as depicted in the FIG. 1 . These anions thus have a partially delocalized charge, but are also akin to zwitterions which are a single negative charge tethered to an organic cation, in the featured distinct positive and negative regions. As the charge is neither fully delocalized nor fully localized to a single region, the term “pseudo-delocalized” will henceforth be used to describe these anions.

The negative charges of the anion of the salt of the present invention can be selected from, but are not limited to, carboxylates, —CO 2 − , sulfonates —SO 3 − , alkoxides —O − , thiolates —S − , —CO(NCN) − , —CO[C(CN) 2 )] − , —SO 2 (NCN) − , and —SO 2 [C(CN) 2 )] − .

The positive onium-type central core of the anion of the salt of the present invention can be selected from, but is not limited to, ammonium, phosphonium, pyridinium, imidazolium, pyrazolium, and sulfonium.

The linkage between the two negative charges and the positive core of the anion can be a direct covalent bond or dative bond, or an alkylene link of 4 carbons or less.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the pseudo-delocalized anion of the salt of the invention is selected from, but not limited to:

2,6-dicarboxy-1-methyl- pyridinium

2,6-disulfonato-1-methyl- pyridinium

1,4-disulfonato-1-methyl- pyridinium

3,5-disulfonato-1-methyl- pyridinium

1,5-disulfonato-1-methyl- pyridinium

2,6-bis(sulfonato-methyl)-1- methyl-pyridinium

1,3 dioxyimidazolium

1,3 sulfonatoimidazolium

1,3-bis(sulfonato-methyl)- imidazolium

1-ethyl-2 methyl-2,4-bis sufonatoimidazolium

bis-sulfonato-dimethyl ammonium

bis(sulfonato-methyl)- dimethyl ammonium

bis(sulfonato-2-ethyl)- dimethyl ammonium

spiro-3,5,3′5′tetraoxa-4,4′ diaza-bis-piperidinium

spiro-3,5,3′,5′tetrathia-4,4′ diaza-bis-piperidinium, 3,5,5,5′ octaoxide

spiro-3,5,3′,5′tetrathia-4,4′ diaza-bis-phospha- piperidinium, 3,5,5,5′ octaoxide

N,N′-dicyano-1-methyl- pyridinium-3,5 dicarboxamide

3,5-(dimalono-carbonyl)- 1,2-dimethyl-pyrazolium

The salts of the present invention are useful in electrolytes. Such electrolytes comprise the salt dissolved in a polar solvent, a solvating polymer or a mixture thereof. Examples of polar solvents which can be used in the electrolytes include, but are not limited to, linear and cyclic carbonates, ethers including mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-ethylene glycol di-methyl ether, tetrahydrofurane, □-butyrolactone, vinylene carbonate, tetraalkyl sulfonamides, and mixtures thereof. Examples of solvating polymers which can be used in the electrolytes include, but are not limited to, poly(ethylene oxide), polyacrylamide, poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate or dimethacrylate, poly(methoxy ethylene glycol) monoacrylate or methacrylate, their random or block polymers with styrene, and a polyether comprising at least 60% of oxyethylene units.

These electrolytes are useful in lithium batteries. Such batteries comprise at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode, with the electrolyte comprising a salt of the present invention and further containing lithium or sodium ions. In one embodiment, the negative electrode of the lithium battery comprises metallic lithium, a lithium intercalation derivative of soft or hard carbons, graphite, a lithium-aluminum alloy, a lithium silicon alloy or Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 . In another embodiment, the negative electrode comprises sodium, a sodium intercalation derivative of hard carbons, a sodium-lead alloy or Na 2+q Ti 3 O 7 wherein 0≦q≦2. In one embodiment, the positive electrode of the lithium battery comprises LiFe 1−x Mn x PO 4 wherein 0≦x≦1, LiFeSO 4 F, Li y Mn 2 O 4 wherein 0≦y≦1, Li z CoO 2 wherein 0≦z≦0.6 or mixtures thereof. In another embodiment, the positive electrode comprises Na r FePO 4 , (0≦r≦1) or Na 2−s FePO 4 F (0≦s≦1) or Na 1−t MnO 2 (0≦t≦1) and mixtures thereof.

The following nonlimiting examples are provided to further illustrate the present invention.