Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100261058 | COMPOSITE MATERIALS CONTAINING METALLIZED CARBON NANOTUBES AND NANOFIBERS - A method and apparatus are provided for the cost effective formation of a composite material which includes metallized carbon nanotubes and/or nanofibers that can be used to form portions of an energy storage device, such as a lithium ion battery. In one embodiment, carbon nanotubes are formed on a host substrate using a catalytic chemical vapor deposition process. An initiation-adhesion layer is formed over the carbon nanotubes and a metallic layer is then deposited on the initiation-adhesion layer and each layer is formed using a wet deposition process. In one embodiment, portions of the host substrate are used to form an electrochemical storage device that may be integrated with other formed electrochemical storage devices to create an interconnected battery array. The battery array may be formed as a woven sheet, panel, or other flexible structure depending upon the type of host substrate material. In one case, the host substrate material may be a flexible fibrous material that has multiple layers formed thereon to form a fiber battery, such as a lithium ion battery. | 10-14-2010 |
20100261071 | METALLIZED FIBERS FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE - A cost effective method and apparatus are provided for forming metallized fibers and depositing multilayer films thereon to form thin film electrochemical energy storage devices. In one embodiment, a fibrous substrate is formed using a fiber spinning process and the fibrous substrate is plated with a copper layer using wet deposition. Multiple material layers are then deposited onto the copper layer to form a lithium-ion battery fiber. | 10-14-2010 |
20110097628 | NUCLEATION AND GROWTH OF TIN PARTICLES INTO THREE DIMENSIONAL COMPOSITE ACTIVE ANODE FOR LITHIUM HIGH CAPACITY ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE - Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to lithium-ion batteries, and more specifically, to a system and method for fabricating such batteries using thin-film processes that form three-dimensional structures. In one embodiment, an anodic structure used to form an energy storage device is provided. The anodic structure comprises a flexible conductive substrate, a plurality of conductive microstructures formed on the conductive substrate, comprising a plurality of columnar projections and dendritic structures formed over the plurality of columnar projections and a plurality of tin particles formed on the plurality of conductive microstructures. In another embodiment, the anodic structure further comprises a tin nucleation layer comprising tin particles formed on the flexible conductive substrate between the flexible conductive substrate and the plurality of conductive microstructures. | 04-28-2011 |
20110129732 | COMPRESSED POWDER 3D BATTERY ELECTRODE MANUFACTURING - Embodiments of the invention contemplate forming an electrochemical device and device components, such as a battery cell or supercapacitor, using thin-film or layer deposition processes and other related methods for forming the same. In one embodiment, a battery bi-layer cell is provided. The battery bi-layer cell comprises an anode structure comprising a conductive collector substrate, a plurality of pockets formed on the conductive collector substrate by conductive microstructures comprising a plurality of columnar projections, and an anodically active powder deposited in and over the plurality of pockets, an insulative separator layer formed over the plurality of pockets, and a cathode structure joined over the insulative separator. | 06-02-2011 |
20110168550 | GRADED ELECTRODE TECHNOLOGIES FOR HIGH ENERGY LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES - Embodiments described herein provide methods and systems for manufacturing faster charging, higher capacity energy storage devices that are smaller, lighter, and can be more cost effectively manufactured at a higher production rate. In one embodiment, a graded cathode structure is provided. The graded cathode structure comprises a conductive substrate, a first porous layer comprising a first cathodically active material having a first porosity formed on the conductive substrate, and a second porous layer comprising a second cathodically active material having a second porosity formed on the first porous layer. In certain embodiments, the first porosity is greater than the second porosity. In certain embodiments, the first porosity is less than the second porosity. | 07-14-2011 |
20110200881 | ELECTRODE FOR HIGH PEFORMANCE Li-ION BATTERIES - A method for forming an electrode for a battery is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate. A plurality of clusters of lithium containing compound is formed over the substrate, with each cluster having a plurality of sub-structures of lithium containing compound that exhibit nanocrystalline structure. The plurality of sub-structures of lithium containing compound are transformed to exhibit cation ordering structure. In some embodiments, a protective layer is disposed over the cluster of Li containing compound. An electrode for a battery and a system for processing the substrate are also disclosed. | 08-18-2011 |
20110217585 | INTEGRATED COMPOSITE SEPARATOR FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES - Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to lithium-ion batteries, and more specifically, to batteries having integrated separators and methods of fabricating such batteries. In one embodiment, a lithium-ion battery having an electrode structure is provided. The lithium-ion battery comprises an anode stack, a cathode stack, and an integrated separator formed between the anode stack and the cathode stack. The anode stack comprises an anodic current collector and an anode structure formed over a first surface of the anodic current collector. The cathode stack comprises a cathodic current collector and a cathode structure formed over a first surface of the cathodic current collector. The integrated separator comprises a first ceramic layer, a second ceramic layer, and a polymer material layer deposited between the first ceramic layer and the second ceramic layer. | 09-08-2011 |
20120064225 | SPRAY DEPOSITION MODULE FOR AN IN-LINE PROCESSING SYSTEM - In one embodiment, an apparatus for simultaneously depositing an anodically or cathodically active material on opposing sides of a flexible conductive substrate is provided. The apparatus comprises a chamber body defining one or more processing regions in which a flexible conductive substrate is exposed to a dual sided spray deposition process, wherein each of the one or more processing regions are further divided into a first spray deposition region and a second spray deposition region for simultaneously spraying an anodically active or cathodically active material onto opposing sides of a portion of the flexible conductive substrate, wherein each of the first and second spray deposition regions comprise a spray dispenser cartridge for delivering the activated material toward the flexible conductive substrate and a movable collection shutter. | 03-15-2012 |
20120237823 | POROUS THREE DIMENSIONAL COPPER, TIN, COPPER-TIN, COPPER-TIN-COBALT, AND COPPER-TIN-COBALT-TITANIUM ELECTRODES FOR BATTERIES AND ULTRA CAPACITORS - A method and apparatus for forming a reliable and cost efficient battery or electrochemical capacitor electrode structure that has an improved lifetime, lower production costs, and improved process performance are provided. In one embodiment a method for forming a three dimensional porous electrode for a battery or an electrochemical cell is provided. The method comprises depositing a columnar metal layer over a substrate at a first current density by a diffusion limited deposition process and depositing three dimensional metal porous dendritic structures over the columnar metal layer at a second current density greater than the first current density. | 09-20-2012 |
20130214200 | PARTICLE SYNTHESIS APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods of forming a battery-active material are described. An apparatus includes a first processing section that raises the temperature of a precursor material to a reaction threshold temperature, a second processing section that converts the precursor material to a battery-active material, and a third processing section that cools the resulting battery-active material. Each of the processing sections may be a continuous flow tubular component. The first and third processing sections may be metal, and the second processing section may be a refractory material for high temperature service. The battery-active material is collected using a solids collector. | 08-22-2013 |
20130260255 | NUCLEATION AND GROWTH OF TIN PARTICLES INTO THREE DIMENSIONAL COMPOSITE ACTIVE ANODE FOR LITHIUM HIGH CAPACITY ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE - Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to lithium-ion batteries, and more specifically, to a system and method for fabricating such batteries using thin-film processes that form three-dimensional structures. In one embodiment, an anodic structure used to form an energy storage device is provided. The anodic structure comprises a flexible conductive substrate, a plurality of conductive microstructures formed on the conductive substrate, comprising a plurality of columnar projections and dendritic structures formed over the plurality of columnar projections and a plurality of tin particles formed on the plurality of conductive microstructures. In another embodiment, the anodic structure further comprises a tin nucleation layer comprising tin particles formed on the flexible conductive substrate between the flexible conductive substrate and the plurality of conductive microstructures. | 10-03-2013 |
20140011088 | MANUFACTURING OF HIGH CAPACITY PRISMATIC LITHIUM-ION ALLOY ANODES - High capacity energy storage devices and energy storage device components, and more specifically, to a system and method for fabricating such high capacity energy storage devices and storage device components using processes that form three-dimensional porous structures are provided. In one embodiment, an anode structure for use in a high capacity energy storage device, comprising a conductive collector substrate, a three-dimensional copper-tin-iron porous conductive matrix formed on one or more surfaces of the conductive collector substrate, comprising a plurality of meso-porous structures formed over the conductive current collector, and an anodically active material deposited over the three-dimensional copper-tin-iron porous conductive matrix is provided. In certain embodiments, the three-dimensional copper-tin-iron porous conductive matrix further comprises a plurality of columnar projections formed on the conductive current collector with the plurality of meso-porous structure formed on the plurality of columnar projections. | 01-09-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100126849 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FORMING 3D NANOSTRUCTURE ELECTRODE FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL BATTERY AND CAPACITOR - Embodiments described herein generally relate to an electrode structure for an electrochemical battery or capacitor, particularly, apparatus and methods of creating a reliable and cost efficient 3D electrode nano structure for an electrochemical battery or capacitor that has an improved lifetime, lower production costs, and improved process performance. | 05-27-2010 |
20100151318 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL BATTERY WITH HYBRID NANO-CARBON LAYER - A Li-ion battery cell is formed from deposited thin-film layers and comprises a high-surface-area 3-D battery structure. The high-surface-area 3-D battery structure includes a fullerene-hybrid material deposited onto a surface of a conductive substrate and a conformal metallic layer deposited onto the fullerene-hybrid material. The fullerene-hybrid material is made up of chains of fullerene “onions” linked by carbon nanotubes to form a high-surface-area layer on the conductive substrate and has a “three-dimensional” surface. The conformal metallic layer acts as the active anode material in the Li-ion battery and also has a high surface area, thereby forming a high-surface-area anode. The Li-ion battery cell also includes an ionic electrolyte-separator layer, an active cathodic material layer, and a metal current collector for the cathode, each of which is deposited as a conformal thin film. | 06-17-2010 |
20100193365 | POROUS THREE DIMENSIONAL COPPER, TIN, COPPER-TIN, COPPER-TIN-COBALT, AND COPPER-TIN-COBALT-TITANIUM ELECTRODES FOR BATTERIES AND ULTRA CAPACITORS - A method and apparatus for forming a reliable and cost efficient battery or electrochemical capacitor electrode structure that has an improved lifetime, lower production costs, and improved process performance are provided. In one embodiment a method for forming a three dimensional porous electrode for a battery or an electrochemical cell is provided. The method comprises depositing a columnar metal layer over a substrate at a first current density by a diffusion limited deposition process and depositing three dimensional metal porous dendritic structures over the columnar metal layer at a second current density greater than the first current density. | 08-05-2010 |
20100200403 | METROLOGY METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR NANOMATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ENERGY STORAGE ELECTRODE STRUCTURES - Embodiments described herein generally relate to methods and apparatus for forming an electrode structure used in an energy storage device. More particularly, embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatus for characterizing nanomaterials used in forming high capacity electrode structures for energy storage devices. In one embodiment a process for forming an electrode structure for an energy storage device is provided. The process comprises depositing a columnar metal structure over a substrate at a first current density by a diffusion limited deposition process, measuring a capacitance of the columnar metal structure to determine a surface area of the columnar metal structure, and depositing three dimensional porous metal structures over the columnar metal structure at a second current density greater than the first current density. | 08-12-2010 |
20100203391 | MESOPOROUS CARBON MATERIAL FOR ENERGY STORAGE - A mesoporous carbon material formed on an electrode surface in an energy storage device, and a method of forming the same are disclosed. The mesoporous carbon material acts as a high surface area ion intercalation medium for the energy storage device, and is made up of CVD-deposited carbon fullerene “onions” and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are interconnected in a fullerene/CNT hybrid matrix. The fullerene/CNT hybrid matrix is a high porosity material that is capable of retaining lithium ions in concentrations useful for storing significant quantities of electrical energy. The method, according to one embodiment, includes vaporizing a high molecular weight hydrocarbon precursor and directing the vapor onto a conductive substrate to form a mesoporous carbon material thereon. | 08-12-2010 |
20100216026 | Thin film electrochemical energy storage device with three-dimensional anodic structure - A method for forming a battery from via thin-film deposition processes is disclosed. A mesoporous carbon material is deposited onto a surface of a conductive substrate that has high surface area, conductive micro-structures formed thereon. A porous, dielectric separator layer is then deposited on the layer of mesoporous carbon material to form a half cell of an energy storage device. The mesoporous carbon material is made up of CVD-deposited carbon fullerene “onions” and carbon nano-tubes, and has a high porosity capable of retaining lithium ions in concentrations useful for storing significant quantities of electrical energy. Embodiments of the invention further provide for the formation of an electrode having a high surface area conductive region that is useful in a battery structure. In one configuration the electrode has a high surface area conductive region comprising a porous dendritic structure that can be formed by electroplating, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, thermal spraying, and/or electroless plating techniques. | 08-26-2010 |
20100330425 | PASSIVATION FILM FOR SOLID ELECTROLYTE INTERFACE OF THREE DIMENSIONAL COPPER CONTAINING ELECTRODE IN ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE - A system and method for fabricating lithium-ion batteries using thin-film deposition processes that form three-dimensional structures is provided. In one embodiment, an anodic structure used to form an energy storage device is provided. The anodic structure comprises a conductive substrate, a plurality of conductive microstructures formed on the substrate, a passivation film formed over the conductive microstructures, and an insulative separator layer formed over the conductive microstructures, wherein the conductive microstructures comprise columnar projections. | 12-30-2010 |