Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Grinding Media for Battery Material Processing

Lithium compounds in lithium batteries have specific requirements for particle size distribution, so nano-scale battery materials need to be used to improve battery performance. As a representative grinding medium for a new generation of nano-battery materials, zirconia grinding beads possess advantages such as high density, high strength, excellent wear resistance, and long service life, enabling nano-scale ultra-fine grinding and dispersion of new energy battery materials. The grinding principle of zirconia beads is that the beads collide with and shear battery material particles under the drive of a sand mill, thereby reducing the particle fineness. They exhibit distinct characteristics in the grinding applications of cathode and anode materials. Zirconia beads are mainly used for LFP (lithium iron phosphate) materials in cathodes and silicon-carbon composites in anodes. The target fineness of the two materials differs significantly: the former requires <350nm, while the latter requires <100nm. Since the final fineness of the battery material directly affects the selection of zirconia bead diameter, and there is exactly a 1000-fold ratio relationship between them, relatively, the zirconia bead diameters used for grinding LFP materials and silicon-carbon anode materials should reach 0.35mm and 0.1mm respectively. To meet the requirements of fracture resistance and low wear rate for grinding zirconia beads, the following aspects usually need to be considered in terms of product material performance: whether there are controllable and stable physical indicators, whether advanced manufacturing processes are adopted, and whether there is a dense internal structure. From a process perspective, the production of zirconia beads is divided into the rolling method and the droplet formation method (titration method). The rolling method is based on a principle similar to "snowballing"; if not properly controlled, it may result in an incompact internal structure with many pores, thereby affecting the crushing strength, Vickers hardness, and wear resistance of the beads. In contrast, the droplet formation method (titration method) involves dropping slurry into a solution for one-step molding, resulting in a uniform and dense internal structure. Beads produced by this method have better physical properties, including higher crushing strength, Vickers hardness, and wear resistance, and their quality is more stable due to automated production. Therefore, zirconia beads manufactured by the droplet formation method are the most suitable grinding medium for battery material processing. These beads feature a dense and uniform internal structure, endowing them with superior physical properties: higher Vickers hardness, higher crushing strength, and better wear resistance.
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