Systems and methods for lithium-ion cell manufacturing to reduce cell contamination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10461318-B2
Application number	US-201615383118-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2016
Priority date	Dec 19, 2016
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

A system for forming an electrode for a lithium-ion battery cell includes an electrode material, a material-supply mechanism, a wetting mechanism, a debris-generating tool, and a conditioner. The material-supply mechanism is configured to deliver the electrode material. The wetting mechanism is configured to receive the electrode material from the material-supply mechanism and apply a solution to the electrode material to produce a wet precursor. The debris-generating tool is configured to remove a portion of the electrode material from the wet precursor to form a pre-electrode. The conditioner is configured to eliminate the solution from the pre-electrode and thereby form the electrode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
wetting, via a wetting mechanism, an electrode material with a liquid to form a wet precursor;
removing a portion of the electrode material from the wet precursor with a debris generating tool to form a pre-electrode; and
eliminating, via a conditioner, the liquid from the pre-electrode to thereby form an electrode,
wherein the liquid is water and eliminating the liquid comprises applying an organic solvent to the pre-electrode, and
wherein the organic solvent is applied to the pre-electrode in a gaseous phase.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conditioner includes at least one of a vacuum mechanism, a heating mechanism, or an airflow mechanism, and wherein eliminating the liquid comprises at least one of:
reducing, via the vacuum mechanism, air pressure exerted on the pre-electrode to evaporate or vaporize at least a portion of the liquid;
increasing, via the heating mechanism, a temperature of the pre-electrode to evaporate or vaporize at least a portion of the liquid; or
directing, via the airflow mechanism, airflow over the pre-electrode to evaporate or vaporize at least a portion of the liquid.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein wetting the electrode is concurrent to removing the portion.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein wetting includes immersing the electrode material in a pool of the liquid.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the portion includes stamping the wet precursor with a stamping tool.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the portion includes cutting the wet precursor with a cutting tool.

7. A system comprising:
an electrode material;
a material-supply mechanism configured to deliver the electrode material;
a wetting mechanism configured to receive the electrode material from the material-supply mechanism and apply a liquid to the electrode material to produce a wet precursor;
a debris-generating tool configured to remove a portion of the electrode material from the wet precursor to form a pre-electrode; and
a conditioner configured to eliminate the liquid from the pre-electrode and thereby form an electrode,
wherein the liquid is water and the system further includes a water-removal mechanism configured to remove the water from the pre-electrode using an organic solvent, and
wherein the organic solvent is applied to the pre-electrode in a gaseous phase.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the conditioner is a vacuum mechanism configured to reduce an air pressure exerted on the pre-electrode to thereby evaporate or vaporize the liquid.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the conditioner is a heating mechanism configured to increase a temperature of the liquid.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the conditioner is an airflow mechanism configured to direct airflow over the pre-electrode to evaporate or vaporize the liquid.

11. The system of claim 7 , further comprising an electrode output configured to receive the electrode from the debris-generating tool.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the liquid is an organic solvent.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the electrode material is lithium manganese oxide.

14. The method of claim 4 , wherein wetting the electrode is concurrent to removing the portion.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Zeng Sherman H
• Yu Zhiqiang
• Kong Dewen
• Liu Haijing

Classifications

• H01M4/1391 Primary

  of electrodes based on mixed oxides or hydroxides, or on mixtures of oxides or hydroxides, e.g. LiCoOx · CPC title

• H01M4/505

  of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing manganese for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiMn2O4 or LiMn2OxFy · CPC title

• H01M4/139 Primary

  Processes of manufacture · CPC title

• H01M4/04

  Processes of manufacture in general · CPC title

• H01M10/0525

  Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries · CPC title