Three-dimensional batteries with compressible cathodes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11901514-B2
Application number	US-202117363148-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2021
Priority date	Nov 16, 2016
Publication date	Feb 13, 2024
Grant date	Feb 13, 2024

Abstract

A secondary battery for cycling between a charged and a discharged state is provided. The secondary battery has an electrode assembly having a population of anode structures, a population of cathode structures, and an electrically insulating microporous separator material. The electrode assembly also has a set of electrode constraints that at least partially restrains growth of the electrode assembly. Members of the anode structure population have a first cross-sectional area, A1 when the secondary battery is in the charged state and a second cross-sectional area, A2, when the secondary battery is in the discharged state, and members of the cathode structure population have a first cross-sectional area, C1 when the secondary battery is in the charged state and a second cross-sectional area, C2, when the secondary battery is in the discharged state, where A1 is greater than A2, and C1 is less than C2.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of formation of a secondary battery for cycling between a charged and a discharged state, the secondary battery comprising a battery enclosure, an electrode assembly, and carrier ions within the battery enclosure,
the electrode assembly having a population of anode structures, a population of cathode structures, and an electrically insulating separator electrically separating members of the anode and cathode structure populations, wherein members of the anode and cathode structure populations are arranged in an alternating sequence in a longitudinal direction, and wherein members of the population of anode structures comprise anode active material layers that expand in cross-sectional area A upon charging of the secondary battery, members of the population of cathode structures comprise compressible cathode active material layers having a cross-sectional area C, the cross-sectional areas being measured in a first longitudinal plane that is parallel to the longitudinal direction,
the electrode assembly further comprises a set of electrode constraints that at least partially restrains growth of the electrode assembly in the longitudinal direction during charging of the secondary battery, and
the compressible cathode active material layers of members of the population of cathode structures comprise filler particles that are compressible and elastic, the method comprising:
in an initial formation stage, charging the secondary battery such that an expansion in cross-sectional area of the anode active material layers in the members of the population of anode structures compresses the compressible cathode active material layers of the population of cathode structure, such that (i) a cross-sectional area of members of a subset of the anode structure population increases from an initial cross-sectional area A i prior to the initial formation stage to a post-formation cross-sectional area A f after the initial formation stage, such that a ratio A f :A i is at least 1.1:1, and (ii) a cross-sectional area of members of a subset of the cathode structure population decreases from an initial cross-sectional area C i prior to the initial formation stage to a post-formation cross-sectional area C f after the initial formation stage that is less than 95% of the initial cross-sectional area Ci prior to the initial formation stage.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the post-formation cross-sectional area C f is less than 90% of the initial cross-sectional area C i .

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the post-formation cross-sectional area C f is less than 80% of the initial cross-sectional area C i .

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the post-formation cross-sectional area C f is less than 70% of the initial cross-sectional area C i .

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein members of the population of cathode structures comprise a compressible cathode active material layer comprising particles of cathode active material in a matrix of polymeric material, and wherein the compressible cathode active material layers are compressed from a first volume % of particles in the cathode active material layers to a second volume % of particles in the cathode active material layers, second volume % being higher than the first volume %.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electrically insulating separator comprises a flexible membrane comprising a polymeric material, and wherein the initial formation stage compresses the electrically insulating separator against the cathode structure and anode structure at a pressure that at least partially adheres the electrically insulating separator to members of both the population of cathode structures and the population of anode structures.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initial formation step compresses the electrically insulating separator against the cathode structure and anode structure at a pressure of at least 1000 psi.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initial formation step compresses the electrically insulating separator against the cathode structure and anode structure at a pressure of at least 3000 psi.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initial formation step compresses the electrically insulating separator against the cathode structure and anode structure at a pressure of at least 10,000 psi.

10. A method of formation of a secondary battery for cycling between a charged and a discharged state, the secondary battery comprising a battery enclosure, an electrode assembly, and carrier ions within the battery enclosure,
the electrode assembly having a population of anode structures, a population of cathode structures, and electrically insulating separators electrically separating members of the anode and compressible cathode structure populations, wherein members of the anode and cathode structure populations are arranged in an alternating sequence in a longitudinal direction, and wherein members of the population of anode structures comprise anode active material layers that expand in cross-sectional area A upon charging of the secondary battery, members of the population of cathode structures comprise compressible cathode active material layers having a cross-sectional area C, the cross-sectional areas being measured in a first longitudinal plane that is parallel to the longitudinal direction,
the electrode assembly further comprises a set of electrode constraints that at least partially restrains growth of the electrode assembly in the longitudinal direction during charging of the secondary battery, and
the compressible cathode active material layers of members of the population of cathode structures comprise filler particles that are compressible and elastic, the method comprising:
in an initial formation step, charging the secondary battery such that expansion of the anode active material layers in the members of the population of anode structures compresses the electrically insulating separators against the compressible cathode active material layers of the cathode structures at a pressure that contracts the cross-sectional area C of the compressible cathode active material layers, while also at least partially adhering the electrically insulating separators to the compressible cathode active material layers of the cathode structures and the anode active material layers of the anode structures;
wherein, upon discharge of the secondary battery and contraction in the cross-sectional area A of the anode active material layers, the at least partial adhesion of the electrically insulating separators to the compressible cathode active material layers and the anode active material layers causes expansion in the cross-sectional area C of the compressible cathode active material layers.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electrically insulating separator is microporous.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the anode active material comprises one or more of silicon, aluminum, tin, zinc, silver, antimony, bismuth, gold, platinum, germanium, palladium, and alloys thereof.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cathode active material comprises one or more of transition metal oxides, transition metal sulfides, transition metal nitrides, lithium-transition metal oxides, lithium-transition metal sulfides, and lithium-transition metal nitrides.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein transition metal elements of the transition metal oxides, transition metal sulfides, and transition metal nitrides are selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, lanthanoids, actinoid

Assignees

• Enovix Corp

Inventors

• Busacca Robert S
• Ramasubramanian Murali
• Valdes Bruno A
• Wilcox James D
• Spindt Christopher J
• Ho Geoffrey Matthew
• Varni John F
• Lee Kim Han
• Contreras Richard J
• Schuerlein Thomas John
• Lahiri Ashok

Classifications

• H01M10/058 Primary

  Construction or manufacture · CPC title

• H01M10/049

  Processes for forming or storing electrodes in the battery container · CPC title

• H01M10/054

  Accumulators with insertion or intercalation of metals other than lithium, e.g. with magnesium or aluminium · CPC title

• H01M10/0525

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

• H01M50/489

  Separators, membranes, diaphragms or spacing elements inside the cells, characterised by their physical properties, e.g. swelling degree, hydrophilicity or shut down properties · CPC title