A device and method of manufacturing high aspect ratio structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018159133-A1
Application number	US-201615571740-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 3, 2016
Priority date	May 4, 2015
Publication date	Jun 7, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

An method for manufacturing a electronic device is provided having a current collector capable of a high specific charge collecting area and power, but is also achieved using a simple and fast technique and resulting in a robust design that may be flexed and can be manufactured in large scale processing.
To this end the electronic device comprising an electronic circuit equipped with a current collector formed by a metal substrate having a face forming a high-aspect ratio structure of pillars having an interdistance larger than 600 nm. By forming the high-aspect structure in a metal substrate, new structures can be formed that are conformal to curvature of a macroform or that can be coiled or wound and have a robust design.

First claim

1 . A method of manufacturing a current collector with a high-aspect ratio structure of pillars formed on a metal substrate, wherein the method comprises: forming elongate and aligned carbon nanotube structures on a face of a seed layer covering the metal substrate; with a micro-pattern mask arranged to forming the carbon nanotube pillars having a minimum interdistance larger than 600 nm; sensitizing the carbon nano tube pillars with a seed metal; electroless plating the sensitized carbon nano tubes to electrically bridge the seed layer by a plated electroconductive material deposited by said electroless plating step, said plated electroconductive material electrically connecting said metal substrate to said carbon nano tubes and covering the carbon nanotube pillars with a further conductive layer deposited by an electroplating step.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the rendering step is carried out by a pH >3.

3 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the further conductive layer is porous.

4 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the pillars are covered with subsequent layers to form a coating that is conformal to the pillars.

5 . A method according to claim 4 , wherein the coating is a battery multilayer or a photovoltaic multilayer.

6 . A method according to claim 5 wherein the multilayer comprises a solid state electrolyte layer.

7 . A method according to claim 5 , further comprising covering the multilayer structure with a planarizing filler that planarizes the high-aspect ratio structure.

8 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal substrate is stacked on an organic foil.

9 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the current collector is manufactured in a roll-to-roll process.

10 . An electronic device comprising a current collector having a high-aspect ratio structure of pillars formed in a metal substrate, monolithically formed of elongate and aligned carbon nanotube pillar structures on a face of the metal substrate; and having a minimum interdistance larger than 600 nm; said carbon nanotube pillars being formed on a seed layer; said nanotube pillars being sensitized with a seed metal; and said seed layer being electrically bridged by a plated electroconductive material, said plated electroconductive material electrically connecting said metal substrate to said carbon nano tubes; wherein the carbon nanotube pillars are covered by a further conductive layer deposited on said carbon nanotube pillars.

11 . An electronic device according to claim 10 wherein the high-aspect ratio structure comprises pillars having a radius of curvature larger than 50 nanometer.

12 . An electronic device according to claim 11 , wherein the pillars are higher than 10 micrometer.

13 . An electronic device according to claim 10 , wherein the pillars are formed in high aspect ratio clusters that are separated by a grid of planar zones.

14 . An electronic device according to claim 10 , wherein the substrate is a metal foil having both faces forming a high-aspect ratio structure.

15 . An electronic device according to claim 10 , wherein the high aspect ratio structure is covered with a coating that is conformal to the pillars of the high aspect ratio structure; wherein a gap is provided between homogenously coated high aspect ratio structures.

16 . An electronic device according to claim 15 , wherein the coating is a battery multilayer or a photovoltaic multilayer or both.

17 . An electronic device according to claim 16 wherein the battery multilayer comprises a solid state electrolyte layer.

18 . An electronic device according to claim 16 , wherein the battery multilayer comprises a first electrode layer coated on the high-aspect ratio structure and having a thickness that matches the effective volumetric storage capacity of a second electrode layer at a battery charging C-rate larger than 10 C.

19 . An electronic device according to claim 15 , having a plurality of current collectors, that are alternatingly stacked.

20 . An electronic device according to claim 15 , wherein the gap is filled with a planarizing filler that planarizes and mechanically stabilizes the high-aspect structure.

21 . An electronic device according to claim 20 , wherein the filler is a metal forming an electrode part.

22 . An electronic device according to claim 20 , wherein the filler is a conductive glue that functions to stack the current collector and while stabilizing the high aspect structure.

23 . An electronic device according to claim 10 , wherein the metal substrate is stacked on an organic foil.

Assignees

• TNO

Inventors

• Schoo Harmannus Franciscus Maria
• Unnikrishnan Sandeep
• Hermes Dorothee Christine
• Smits Edsger Constant Pieter
• Sabik Sami

Classifications

• H01M4/75

  Wires, rods or strips · CPC title

• H01M10/0525

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

• H01M4/667

  in the form of layers, e.g. coatings · CPC title

• Y02E10/542

  Dye sensitized solar cells · CPC title

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title