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.
1 . A battery bi-layer cell, comprising:
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.
2 . The battery bi-layer cell of claim 1 , wherein the cathode structure comprises:
a micro-patterned collector substrate comprising aluminum or alloys thereof;
a plurality of pockets and posts formed in the micro-patterned substrate; and
a cathodically active powder deposited over the plurality of pockets formed in the micro-patterned substrate.
3 . The battery bi-layer cell of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of pockets and posts of the cathode are formed using an embossing process.
4 . The battery bi-layer cell of claim 2 , wherein the cathodically active powder is selected from the group comprising: lithium cobalt dioxide (LiCoO 2 ), lithium manganese dioxide (LiMnO 2 ), titanium disulfide (TiS 2 ), LiNixCO 1-2x MnO 2 , LiMn 2 O 4 , iron olivine (LiFePO 4 ), LiFe 1-x MgPO 4 , LiMoPO 4 , LiCoPO 4 , Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , LiVOPO 4 , LiMP 2 O 7 , LiFe 1.5 P 2 O 7 , LiVPO 4 F, LiAlPO 4 F, Li 5 V(PO 4 ) 2 F 2 , Li 5 Cr(PO 4 ) 2 F 2 , Li 2 CoPO 4 F, Li 2 NiPO 4 F, Na 5 V 2 (PO 4 ) 2 F 3 , Li 2 FeSiO 4 , Li 2 MnSiO 4 , Li 2 VOSiO 4 , and combinations thereof.
5 . The battery bi-layer cell of claim 1 , wherein the conductive microstructures further comprise a plurality of meso-porous structures.
6 . The battery bi-layer cell of claim 1 , wherein the anodically active powder is selected from graphite, graphene hard carbon, carbon black, carbon coated silicon, tin particles, copper-tin particles, tin oxide, silicon carbide, amorphous silicon, crystalline silicon, silicon alloys, doped silicon, lithium titanate, and combinations thereof.
7 . An anode structure for use in an electrochemical cell device comprising:
a conductive collector substrate;
a container layer comprising a plurality of porous pockets formed on one or more surfaces of the conductive collector substrate by conductive microstructures comprising a plurality of meso-porous structures formed over a plurality of columnar projections; and
an anodically active powder deposited into and over the plurality of pockets.
8 . The anode structure of claim 7 , wherein the conductive microstructures are formed by an electroplating process, an electroless process, an embossing process, or combinations thereof.
9 . The anode structure of claim 7 , wherein the conductive microstructures form the container layer having a density that is between about 10% and about 85% of a solid film formed from the same material.
10 . The anode structure of claim 7 , wherein the conductive microstructure comprises a material selected from the group comprising: copper, tin, doped silicon, and combinations thereof.
11 . The anode structure of claim 10 , wherein the anodically active powder comprises particles selected from the group comprising graphite, graphene hard carbon, carbon black, carbon coated silicon, tin particles, copper-tin particles, tin oxide, silicon carbide, amorphous silicon, crystalline silicon, silicon alloys, doped silicon, lithium titanate, composites thereof and combinations thereof.
12 . The anode structure of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of columnar projections comprise a macro-porous structure that has a plurality of macroscopic pores between about 5 and about 200 microns in size and the plurality of meso-porous structures have a plurality of meso-pores that are between about 10 nanometers and about 1,000 nanometers in size.
13 . The anode structure of claim 7 , wherein the powder fills the plurality of porous pockets and at least a portion of the anodically active powder extends above a top surface of the conductive microstructure forming a planar surface.
14 . The anode structure of claim 7 , wherein the powder is compressed and extruded within the plurality of porous pockets such that the powder does not extend above a top surface of the conductive microstructure.
15 . A cathode structure for use in an electrochemical device comprising:
a micro-patterned conductive collector substrate comprising aluminum or alloys thereof;
a plurality of pockets formed on one or more surfaces of the micro-patterned substrate; and
a cathodically active powder deposited into and over the plurality of pockets.
16 . The cathode structure of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of pockets are formed using embossing techniques or nano-imprinting techniques.
17 . The cathode structure of claim 15 , wherein the cathodically active powder comprises particles selected from the group comprising: LiCoO 2 , LiNi x Co 1-2x MnO 2 , LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 , Li(Ni 0.8 Co 0.15 Al 0.05 )O 2 , LiMn 2 O 4 , LiFePO 4 , LiFe 1-x MgPO 4 , LiMoPO 4 , LiCoPO 4 , LiNiPO 4 , Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , LiVOPO 4 , LiMP 2 O 7 , LiFe 1.5 P 2 O 7 , LiVPO 4 F, LiAlPO 4 F, Li 5 V(PO 4 ) 2 F 2 , Li 5 Cr(PO 4 ) 2 F 2 , Li 2 CoPO 4 F, Li 2 NiPO 4 F, Li 2 FeSiO 4 , Li 2 MnSiO 4 , Li 2 VOSiO 4 , Na 5 V 2 (PO 4 ) 2 F 3 , and combinations thereof.
18 . The cathode structure of claim 15 , wherein the cathodically active powder fills the pockets and at least a portion of the powder extends above a top surface of the plurality of pockets.
19 . The cathode structure of claim 15 , wherein the cathodically active powder is compressed and extruded within the pockets such that the powder does not extend above a top surface of the plurality of pockets.
20 . A substrate processing system for processing a flexible conductive substrate, comprising:
a microstructure formation chamber configured to form a plurality of conductive pockets over a flexible conductive substrate;
an active material deposition chamber for depositing electro-active powders over the plurality of conductive pockets; and
a substrate transfer mechanism configured to transfer the flexible conductive substrate among the chambers, comprising:
a feed roll configured to retain a portion of the flexible conductive substrate;
a take up roll configured to retain a portion of the flexible conductive substrate, wherein the substrate transfer mechanism is configured to activate the feed rolls and the take up rolls to transfer the flexible conductive substrate in and out of each chamber, and hold the flexible conductive substrate in a processing volume of each chamber.
21 . The substrate processing system of claim 20 , wherein the microstructure formation chamber comprises an embossing chamber configured to emboss both sides of the flexible substrate to form the plurality of conductive pockets.
22 . The substrate processing system of claim 20 , wherein the microstructure formation chamber comprises a plating chamber configured to perform a plating process on at least a portion of the flexible conductive substrate to form the plurality of conductive pockets.
23 . The substrate processing system of claim 20 , further comprising:
a conditioning chamber positioned adjacent to the microstructure formation chamber and configured to perform at least one of: cleaning at least a portion of the flexible conductive substrate, heating a portion of the flexible conductive substrate to increase the plastic flow of the flexible conductive substrate prior to the microstructure formation process, and combinations thereof.
24 . The substrate processing system of claim 20 , wherein the active material deposition chamber comprises:
a powder dispenser disposed across a travel path of the flexible substrate, wherein the powder dispenser is configured to perform powder application techniques including sifting techniques, electrostatic spraying techniques, thermal or flame spraying techniques, fluidized bed coating techniques, roll coating techniques, slit coating techniques, and combinations thereof.
25 . The substrate processing system of claim 20 , further comprising:
a compression chamber configured to expose the flexible conductive substrate to a calendaring process to compress the deposited powder into the plurality of pockets.