THREE-DIMENSIONAL BATTERY HAVING CURRENT-REDUCING DEVICES CORRESPONDING TO ELECTRODES
Various three-dimensional battery structures are disclosed, in certain embodiments comprising a battery enclosure and a first plurality of electrodes within the enclosure. The first plurality of electrodes includes a plurality of cathodes and a plurality of anodes. The first plurality of electrodes includes a second plurality of electrodes selected from the first plurality of electrodes. The three-dimensional battery includes a first structural layer within the battery enclosure. Each of the second plurality of electrodes protrudes from the first structural layer. The three-dimensional battery includes a plurality of electrical current-reducing devices within the enclosure. Each of the second plurality of electrodes is coupled to one of the plurality of current-reducing devices.
1 .- 25 . (canceled)
26 . An energy storage device comprising:
an enclosure;
an anode current collector;
a plurality of anodes extending from a first layer and electrically connected, in parallel, to the anode current collector by parallel electrically conductive anode pathways;
a cathode current collector;
a plurality of cathodes extending from a second layer and electrically connected, in parallel, to the cathode current collector by parallel electrically conductive cathode pathways; and
a plurality of electrical current-reducing devices wherein the anode current collector, the plurality of anodes, the cathode current collector, the plurality of cathodes, the electrically conductive cathode pathways, the first and second layers, and the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices are within the enclosure;
the plurality of anodes and the plurality of cathodes are interdigitated and in direct contact with a common electrolyte for ion exchange between the anodes and the cathodes during operation of the energy storage device; and
the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices (i) are located in different parallel electrically conductive anode pathways electrically connecting different anodes selected from the plurality of anodes to the anode current collector and have the capacity to locally electrically reduce current in at least one anode with respect to current in at least one other anode in response to an electrical short involving one or more of the anodes; or (ii) are located in different parallel electrically conductive cathode pathways electrically connecting different cathodes selected from the plurality of cathodes to the cathode current collector and have the capacity to electrically reduce current in at least one cathode with respect to current in at least one other cathode in response to an electrical short involving one or more of the cathodes.
27 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein each of the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices comprises a PTC layer including positive-temperature-coefficient (PTC) material.
28 . The energy storage device of claim 27 wherein the PTC material is a conductive-polymer PTC material.
29 . The energy storage device of claim 28 wherein the PTC material comprises polyethylene including graphite particles.
30 . The energy storage device of claim 27 wherein the PTC material comprises barium titanate.
31 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of current-reducing devices comprises a plurality of solid state switches.
32 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of current-reducing devices comprises a plurality of fuses.
33 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of anodes comprises lithium ion insertion electrodes.
34 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of cathodes comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiCoO 2 , Li(Ni x Co y Al z )O 2 , LiFePO 4 , and Li 2 MnO 4 .
35 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of anodes and the plurality of cathodes comprise fins protruding at least 50 microns from the first structural layer.
36 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices are located in different parallel electrically conductive anode pathways electrically connecting different subsets of the plurality of anodes to the anode current collector.
37 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices are located in different parallel electrically conductive cathode pathways electrically connecting different subsets of the plurality of cathodes to the cathode current collector.
38 . The energy storage device of claim 26 further comprising a second structural layer within the enclosure, wherein the plurality of anodes or the plurality of cathodes protrude from the second structural layer.
39 . The energy storage device of claim 38 wherein the plurality of anodes but not the plurality of cathodes protrude-from the second structural layer.
40 . The energy storage device of claim 38 wherein the plurality of cathodes but not the plurality of anodes protrude-from the second structural layer.
41 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of anodes or the plurality of cathodes comprise a protrusion that protrudes from the first structural layer and has an electrically conductive outer surface, and an electrode layer on the conductive outer surface.
42 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices are located in different parallel electrically conductive anode pathways electrically connecting different subsets of the plurality of anodes to the anode current collector and each such subset comprises more than one anode.
43 . The energy storage device of claim 42 wherein the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices are located in different parallel electrically conductive cathode pathways electrically connecting different subsets of the plurality of cathodes to the cathode current collector and each such subset comprises more than one cathode.
44 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the plurality of electrical current-reducing devices are located in different parallel electrically conductive cathode pathways electrically connecting different subsets of the plurality of cathodes to the cathode current collector and each such subset comprises more than one cathode.
45 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the first and second layers are the same layer.
46 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein the first and second layers are opposing layers.
47 . The energy storage device of claim 26 wherein each member of the plurality of anodes has a surface area, ignoring porosity and surface roughness, that exceeds its geometrical footprint in the first layer by a factor of at least 2, and each member of the plurality of cathodes has a surface area, ignoring porosity and surface roughness, that exceeds its geometrical footprint in the second layer by a factor of at least 2.
48 . A three-dimensional battery having the energy storage device of claim 26 .