COATED STACKS FOR BATTERIES AND RELATED MANUFACTURING METHODS
Provided is a battery stack for use in an electric current producing cell, wherein the coated stack comprises a porous separator, an electrode layer adjacent the porous separator, and a current collector layer coated on the electrode layer, wherein the current collector layer comprises sintered metal particles. Also provided are methods of manufacturing such coated stacks.
1 . A battery stack comprising:
a porous separator;
an electrode layer adjacent the porous separator; and
a current collector layer coated on the electrode layer, wherein the current collector layer comprises sintered metal particles.
2 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the current collector layer comprises sintered nickel particles.
3 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the current collector layer comprises sintered copper particles.
4 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the current collector layer comprises sintered aluminum particles.
5 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the current collector layer is 2-20 μm thick.
6 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the porous separator comprises particles selected from the group consisting of inorganic oxide particles and inorganic nitride particles.
7 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the porous separator comprises an organic polymer.
8 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the porous separator includes boehmite or alumina.
9 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the porous separator includes between 65-95% boehmite by weight.
10 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the porous separator has an average pore size between 10-90 nm.
11 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the electrode layer is a cathode layer.
12 . The battery stack of claim 1 , wherein the electrode layer is an anode layer.
13 . The battery stack of claim 1 , further comprising a shutdown layer adjacent to the porous separator.
14 . The battery stack of claim 1 , further comprising a coating of non-sintered metal particles on a portion of the porous separator.
15 . A battery stack comprising:
a porous separator;
an electrode layer adjacent the porous separator;
a current collector layer coated on the electrode layer; and
a coating of non-sintered metal particles on a portion of the porous separator.
16 . The battery stack of claim 15 , wherein the coating of non-sintered metal particles forms a non-conductive layer.
17 . The battery stack of claim 15 , wherein the current collector layer is comprised of sintered metal particles.
18 . A battery comprising:
a porous separator;
an electrode layer; and
a current collector layer comprising sintered metal particles.
19 . The battery of claim 17 , wherein the electrode layer is an anode layer.
20 . The battery of claim 17 , wherein the electrode layer is a cathode layer.
21 . A method of making a battery stack comprising the steps of:
(a) coating a porous separator layer on a substrate;
(b) coating an electrode layer on the porous separator;
(c) coating a current collector layer on the electrode layer, wherein the current collector layer comprises metal or metal oxide particles;
(d) sintering the metal particles of the current collector layer; and
(e) delaminating the substrate from the porous separator layer.
22 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising the step of coating metal or metal oxide particles on a portion of the porous separator.
23 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising the steps of:
(f) interleaving the battery stack of one polarity with a battery stack of the opposite polarity;
(g) placing the interleaved battery stacks in a casing; and
(h) vacuum drying the interleaved battery stacks and casing.