Flexible micro-battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017200923-A1
Application number	US-201515326161-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 21, 2015
Priority date	Jul 21, 2014
Publication date	Jul 13, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A flexible micro-battery construction which can be contorted in three dimensions while maintaining operation and providing biocompatibility and useful power necessary for small medical and other devices is provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electrochemical micro-battery comprising biocompatible cell components including:
an anode extending along a first vector, a generally planar cathode extending along a second vector, wherein said second vector is generally parallel to said first vector, said cathode being disposed from said anode by a predetermined space; a cathode collector in electrical contact with said cathode and extending along said second vector, an electrolyte positioned generally surrounding said anode and said cathode and within said predetermined space to provide ionic conductivity between said anode and said cathode; and flexible packaging generally surrounding said anode, said cathode, said cathode collector and said electrolyte, wherein said anode extends through said packaging along said first vector, and said cathode collector extends through said packaging along said second vector.

2 . The electrochemical micro-battery according to claim 1 , wherein both said first vector and said second vector are arcuate, and wherein said first vector and second vector are concentric to each other.

3 . The electrochemical micro-battery according to any one of claims 1 and 2 , wherein the cathode collector is positioned within the cathode.

4 . The electrochemical micro-battery according to any one of claims 1 - 3 , wherein the thickness of the anode equals the thickness of the cathode, so that the thickness of said electrochemical cell equals the anode diameter in addition to the thickness of said packaging.

5 . The electrochemical micro-battery according to any one of claims 1 - 4 , further comprising a second electrochemical cell connected in series to said electrochemical cell, wherein said anode of the electrochemical cell is electrically connected to a cathode collector of said second electrochemical cell, and wherein said packaging of said electrochemical cell and said packaging of said second electrochemical cell are joined as to form a contiguous package.

6 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 5 , further comprising an anode current collector, and wherein said anode and said anode current collector are bonded in electrical communication, and wherein said anode and said anode current collector are positioned to extend along said first vector in a first stacked arrangement, and wherein said cathode and said cathode current collector are bonded in electrical communication, and wherein said cathode and said cathode current collector are positioned to extend along said second vector in a second stacked arrangement.

7 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 6 , wherein said first stacked arrangement and said second stacked arrangement are separated relative each other by the predetermined space.

8 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 7 , further comprising a separator wherein said separator is positioned between said first stacked arrangement and said second stacked arrangement.

9 . The electrochemical micro-battery according to any one of claims 1 - 8 , further comprising a second electrochemical cell connected in series to said electrochemical cell, wherein said anode of the electrochemical cell further includes an anode collector in electrical communication with said anode of the electrochemical cell, wherein said anode collector extends out of said electrochemical cell and extends into said second electrochemical cell, and wherein said anode collector is electrically connected to the cathode of said second electrochemical cell, and wherein said packaging of said electrochemical cell and said packaging of said second electrochemical cell are joined as to form a contiguous package.

10 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 9 , wherein the volume of the battery is equal to or less than three cubic millimeters (3.0 mm 3 ).

11 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 10 , wherein the battery further comprises an anode current collector, and wherein said anode is positioned adjacent said current collector.

12 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 11 , wherein the anode has a length extending along said first vector, and a width and thickness extending perpendicular to said first vector, wherein said width is greater than said thickness, and wherein the ratio of the length to said width is greater than twenty to one (20:1).

13 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 12 , wherein the cathode has a length extending along said second vector, and a width and thickness extending perpendicular to said second vector, wherein said width is greater than said thickness, and wherein the ratio of the length to said width is greater than ten to one (10:1).

14 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 13 , wherein the electrolyte comprises zinc acetate.

15 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 14 , wherein the pH of the electrolyte is between 6 and 8.

16 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 14 , wherein the concentration of said zinc acetate in the electrolyte comprises less than ten weight percent of said electrolyte (10 wt %).

17 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 16 , wherein the said packaging is positioned in ionic communication with a saline solution.

18 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 17 , wherein packaging is coated with a metal oxide.

19 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 17 , wherein the difference between the osmotic pressure of the electrolyte relative the osmotic pressure of the saline solution is less than ten atmosphere (10 atm).

20 . The electrochemical micro-battery of claim 17 , wherein said the water vapor transmission rate of the packaging is less than 1 g/m2-day when measured at between 85 and 100% relative humidity and between 20 and 40 degrees Celsius

21 . The electrochemical battery according to any one of claims 1 - 20 , wherein the anode comprises zinc, and wherein the cathode comprises manganese dioxide.

22 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 21 , wherein said anode current collector and said cathode current collector comprise titanium.

23 . The electrochemical battery according to claim 21 , wherein said anode comprises both zinc powder, and a zinc article extending the length of the battery, and wherein the zinc powder is in electrical communication with the zinc article.

24 . A method of making a micro-battery comprising the steps of:
forming a cathode having a length and thickness, wherein the ratio of the length to the thickness is equal to or greater than 50:1; attaching the cathode to a cathode collector which extends the length of the cathode to form a cathode assembly; forming an anode having a length and thickness, wherein the ratio of the length to the thickness is equal to or greater than 50:1; distribute an aqueous electrolyte around both the anode an the cathode assembly to enable ionic communication between the cathode and anode; placing the cathode assembly, the electrolyte and the anode within a first and second portion of thermoplastic packaging, wherein the first and second portions envelop all of the electrolyte, a portion of the cathode assembly and a portion of the anode to form a battery interior bounded by sides of the battery interior, except to enable an end portion of the cathode

Assignees

• Johnson & Johnson Vision Care

Inventors

• Weinstein Lawrence Edward
• Pagliaro Leonard
• Howarth Jonathan
• Audebert Jean-Francois
• Xu Taylor

Classifications

• H01M4/661 Primary

  Metal or alloys, e.g. alloy coatings (H01M4/669 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title

• H01M4/623

  fluorinated polymers · CPC title

• H01M10/26

  Selection of materials as electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M4/483

  for non-aqueous cells (H01M4/485 takes precedence) · CPC title