Thin-film electrochemical device, method of making a thin-film electrochemical device, and energy converting device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019237790-A1
Application number	US-201716340900-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 31, 2017
Priority date	Nov 1, 2016
Publication date	Aug 1, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A thin-film electrochemical device includes a monolithic substrate, which includes a cavity enclosed by bottom and side surfaces of the substrate, and a thin-film arranged on a top surface of the substrate and enclosing the cavity. The thin-film is permeable to ions.

First claim

1 . A thin-film electrochemical device, comprising:
a monolithic substrate, which includes a cavity enclosed by bottom and side surfaces of the substrate; and a thin-film arranged on a top surface of the substrate and enclosing the cavity, wherein the thin-film is permeable to ions.

2 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film is an electrode that includes a first and second electrical connection.

3 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film is permeable to oxide ions or protons.

4 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a semiconductor layer, insulator layer, or metallic layer arranged between the thin-film and the top surface of the substrate.

5 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic substrate further comprises supporting portions extending from a bottom of the cavity to a bottom of the thin-film.

6 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an inlet and an outlet in the thin-film passing through the thin-film into the cavity.

7 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is partially or entirely silicon (Si), silicon oxide (SiO), germanium (Ge), germanium oxide (GeO), gallium nitride (GaN), gallium nitride oxide (GaNO), gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium arsenide oxide (GaAsO), aluminum (Al), aluminum oxide (AlO) nickel (Ni), nickel oxide (NiO), copper (Cu), copper oxide (CuO), iron (Fe), iron oxide (FeO), indium (In), indium oxide (InO), platinum (Pt), platinum oxide (PtO), palladium (Pd), pallidum oxide (PdO), titanium (Ti), or titanium oxide (TiO).

8 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film is partially or entirely platinum (Pt), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), cerium (Ce), bismuth (Bi), lithium (Li), carbon allotropes (C), platinum oxide (PtO), nickel oxide (NiO), cobalt oxide (CoO), copper oxide (CuO), yttria-stabilized zirconia oxide (YSZO), cerium oxide (CeO), bismuth oxide (BiO), lithium oxide (LiO), carbon oxide allotropes (CO), platinum nitrate (PtNO 3 ), nickel nitrate (NiNO 3 ), cobalt nitrate (CoNO 3 ), copper nitrate (CuNO 3 ), yttria-stabilized zirconia nitrate (YSZNO 3 ), cerium nitrate (CeNO 3 ), bismuth nitrate (BiNO 3 ), lithium nitrate (LiNO 3 ), or carbon nitrate allotropes (CNO 3 ).

9 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film comprises a plurality of thin-film layers.

10 . The thin-film electrochemical device of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film electrochemical device is a solid oxide fuel cell, a metal-air electrochemical cell, an electrolyzer, or a photocatalytic cell.

11 . A method of producing a thin-film electrochemical device, the method comprising:
providing a substrate; forming, from a top side of the substrate, a cavity in the substrate, wherein the cavity is enclosed by bottom and side surfaces of the substrate; and depositing an ion-permeable thin-film on a top side of the substrate, wherein the ion-permeable thin-film encloses a top side of the cavity and the ion-permeable thin-film allows ions from an environment in which the ion-permeable thin-film electrochemical device is arranged to pass into the cavity or allows ions from the cavity to pass into the environment.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the formation of the cavity comprises:
forming a plurality of channels in the top surface of the substrate; and inserting fluid etchants into the plurality of channels, wherein the fluid etchants form the cavity.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein after forming the plurality of channels and prior to inserting the fluid etchants into the plurality of channels, the method further comprises:
inserting a protectant into the plurality of channels to provide protection to sidewalls of the plurality of channels.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein a sacrificial layer is deposited on the top surface of the substrate prior to depositing the thin-film on the top side of the substrate.

15 . An energy converting device, comprising:
a plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices, each comprising
a monolithic substrate, which includes a cavity, enclosed by bottom and side surfaces of the substrate; and
a thin-film arranged on a top surface of the substrate and enclosing the cavity, wherein the thin-film is permeable to ions.

16 . The energy converting device of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices are arranged adjacent to each other so that the bottoms of the substrates of the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices are arranged in a plane.

17 . The energy converting device of claim 15 , wherein the supporting portions of the substrates of the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices are integral portions of the respective substrates of the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices.

18 . The energy converting device of claim 15 , wherein the thin-film of each of the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices is permeable to oxide ions or protons.

19 . The energy converting device of claim 15 , wherein the substrate of each of the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices is partially or entirely silicon (Si), silicon oxide (SiO), germanium (Ge), germanium oxide (GeO), gallium nitride (GaN), gallium nitride oxide (GaNO), gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium arsenide oxide (GaAsO), aluminum (Al), aluminum oxide (AlO) nickel (Ni), nickel oxide (NiO), copper (Cu), copper oxide (CuO), iron (Fe), iron oxide (FeO), indium (In), indium oxide (InO), platinum (Pt), platinum oxide (PtO), palladium (Pd), pallidum oxide (PdO), titanium (Ti), or titanium oxide (TiO).

20 . The energy converting device of claim 15 , wherein the thin-film of each of the plurality of electrically coupled thin-film electrochemical devices is partially or entirely platinum (Pt), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), cerium (Ce), bismuth (Bi), lithium (Li), carbon allotropes (C), platinum oxide (PtO), nickel oxide (NiO), cobalt oxide (CoO), copper oxide (CuO), yttria-stabilized zirconia oxide (YSZO), cerium oxide (CeO), bismuth oxide (BiO), lithium oxide (LiO), carbon oxide allotropes (CO), platinum nitrate (PtNO 3 ), nickel nitrate (NiNO 3 ), cobalt nitrate (CoNO 3 ), copper nitrate (CuNO 3 ), yttria-stabilized zirconia nitrate (YSZNO 3 ), cerium nitrate (CeNO 3 ), bismuth nitrate (BiNO 3 ), lithium nitrate (LiNO 3 ), or carbon nitrate allotropes (CNO 3 ).

Assignees

• Univ King Abdullah Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Cavazos Sepulveda Adrián César
• Torres Sevilla Galo Andrés

Classifications

• H01M6/40

  Printed batteries {, e.g. thin film batteries} · CPC title

• H01M4/8817

  Treatment of supports before application of the catalytic active composition (coated porous composites H01M8/0245) · CPC title

• H01M4/8803

  Supports for the deposition of the catalytic active composition (H01M4/90 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M8/1097 Primary

  Fuel cells applied on a support, e.g. miniature fuel cells deposited on silica supports · CPC title

• H01M8/1286

  Fuel cells applied on a support, e.g. miniature fuel cells deposited on silica supports · CPC title