Conductive yarn-based nickel-zinc textile batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10811644-B2
Application number	US-201815896961-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2018
Priority date	Feb 14, 2018
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods which provide nickel-zinc textile batteries formed from highly conductive yarn-based components which are configured to facilitate textile material processing, such as weaving, knitting, etc., are described. Embodiments of a conductive yarn-based nickel-zinc textile battery may be constructed using scalably produced highly conductive yarns, such as stainless steel yarns, coated or covered with zinc (anodes) and nickel (cathode) materials, wherein the foregoing yarn anode and cathode components may be coated with an electrolyte to form yarn-based battery assemblies. A conductive yarn-based nickel-zinc textile battery may be constructed by weaving or knitting such yarn-based battery assemblies into a textile material, such as using industrial weaving or knitting machines, hand weaving or knitting processes, etc.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A yarn-based textile battery comprising:
a woven or knitted fabric piece in which media of fabric cloth of the fabric piece includes at least one yarn-based battery assembly woven or knitted therein, wherein each yarn-based battery assembly of the at least one yarn-based battery assembly includes an anode formed from a first stainless steel yarn electrode and a cathode formed from a second stainless steel yarn electrode disposed parallelly in an electrolyte to avoid mutual contact, wherein the anode comprises an active layer of a zinc material coated on a surface of the first stainless steel yarn electrode, wherein the cathode comprises an active layer of a nickel material coated on a surface of the second stainless steel yarn electrode, and wherein the active layer of the zinc material comprises zinc nanoflakes and/or the active layer of the nickel material comprises nickel cobalt hydroxide nanosheets.

2. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte comprises an alkaline gel electrolyte in a solid-state.

3. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 2 , wherein the alkaline gel electrolyte comprises a polyvinyl alcohol-based electrolyte.

4. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the first stainless steel yarn electrode and the second stainless steel yarn electrode comprise stainless steel 316 L conductive yarns.

5. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the first stainless steel yarn electrode and the second stainless steel yarn electrode each comprise a plurality of bundles of stainless steel filaments twisted together to form a yarn structure.

6. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 5 , wherein the stainless steel filaments each have a diameter in the range of 10-50 nm, wherein each bundle of the plurality of bundles of stainless steel filaments have a diameter in the range of 30-50 μm, and the first and second stainless steel yarn electrodes have a diameter in the range of 180-250 μm.

7. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the at least one yarn-based battery assembly comprises:
a plurality of yarn-based battery assemblies operatively connected in a parallel battery configuration.

8. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the at least one yarn-based battery assembly comprises:
a plurality of yarn-based battery assemblies operatively connected in series battery configuration.

9. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the fabric piece including the at least one yarn-based battery assembly is woven by an industrial weaving machine.

10. The yarn-based textile battery of claim 1 , wherein the fabric piece including the at least one yarn-based battery assembly is knitted by an industrial knitting machine.

11. A method for forming a yarn-based textile battery, the method comprising:
providing at least one yarn-based battery assembly configured for use as media for a woven or knitted fabric, wherein each yarn-based battery assembly of the at least one yarn-based battery assembly includes an anode formed from a first stainless steel yarn electrode and a cathode formed from a second stainless steel yarn electrode disposed in an electrolyte, wherein providing the at least one yarn-based battery assembly comprises:
coating the first stainless steel yarn electrode with an active layer of a zinc material to form the anode, wherein coating the first stainless steel yarn electrode with the zinc material comprises:
electrodepositing the zinc material to provide an active layer of zinc nanoflakes; and

coating the second stainless steel yarn electrode with an active layer of a nickel material to form the cathode; and

weaving or knitting a fabric piece from yarn media including the at least one yarn-based battery assembly, wherein woven or knitted fabric cloth of the fabric piece includes the at least one yarn-based battery assembly woven or knitted therein.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the electrodepositing the zinc material comprises:
immersing the first stainless steel yarn electrode into zinc salt solution; and
using a zinc plate as a counter electrode to electrodeposit the zinc onto the first stainless steel yarn electrode, wherein the zinc salt solution has a concentration of 0.2-3 M and electrodeposition time is 10-600 s.

13. A method for forming a yarn-based textile battery, the method comprising:
providing at least one yarn-based battery assembly configured for use as media for a woven or knitted fabric, wherein each yarn-based battery assembly of the at least one yarn-based battery assembly includes an anode formed from a first stainless steel yarn electrode and a cathode formed from a second stainless steel yarn electrode disposed in an electrolyte, wherein providing the at least one yarn-based battery assembly comprises:
coating the first stainless steel yarn electrode with an active layer of a zinc material to form the anode; and
coating the second stainless steel yarn electrode with an active layer of a nickel material to form the cathode, wherein coating the second stainless steel yarn electrode with the nickel material comprises:
electrodepositing the nickel material to provide an active layer of nickel cobalt hydroxide nanosheets; and

weaving or knitting a fabric piece from yarn media including the at least one yarn-based battery assembly, wherein woven or knitted fabric cloth of the fabric piece includes the at least one yarn-based battery assembly woven or knitted therein.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the electrodepositing the nickel material comprises:
immersing the second stainless steel yarn electrode into nickel salt and cobalt salt solution; and
using a platinum plate as a counter electrode to electrodeposit the nickel cobalt hydroxide on the second stainless steel yarn electrode, wherein the nickel salt has a concentration of 1-100 mM, the cobalt salt solution has a concentration of 1-100 mM, and electrodeposition time is 1-600 min.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein providing the at least one yarn-based battery assembly further comprises:
cleaning yarns of the first stainless steel yarn electrode and the second stainless steel yarn electrode using acetone, ethanol, and deionized water;
hydro-thermally treating the yarns of the first stainless steel yarn electrode and the second stainless steel yarn electrode as cleaned in a non-stick material lined stainless steel autoclave containing alkaline solution, wherein a concentration of the alkaline solution is 0.5-3 M; and
cleaning and drying the yarns of the first stainless steel yarn electrode and the second stainless steel yarn electrode as hydro-thermally treated.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein providing the at least one yarn-based battery assembly comprises:
disposing the anode and the cathode in parallel in the electrolyte to avoid mutual contact.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the electrolyte comprises an alkaline gel electrolyte.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the alkaline gel electrolyte comprises a polyvinyl alcohol-based electrolyte.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein providing the at least one yarn-based battery assembly further comprises:
mixing gel monomer, crosslinking agent, and initiator with alkaline electrolyte solution to provide a liquid-state gel electrolyte; and
curing the liquid-state gel electrolyte to provide a solid-state gel electrolyte.

20. A method for forming a yarn-based textile battery, the method comprising:
providing at least one yarn-based battery a

Assignees

• Univ City Hong Kong

Inventors

• Zhi Chunyi
• Huang Yan
• Tang Zijie

Classifications

• H01M4/38 Primary

  of elements or alloys · CPC title

• H01M50/122

  Composite material consisting of a mixture of organic and inorganic materials · CPC title

• D03D15/25

  Metal · CPC title

• Y02P70/50

  Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product · CPC title

• D10B2401/16

  antistatic; conductive · CPC title