Granted Patent B2

US 12,406,995 · App. 18/528,614 · Granted Sep 2, 2025

Inventors: Hieu Minh Duong (San Diego, CA); Haim Feigenbaum (Irvine, CA); Jian Hong (San Diego, CA)

Assignee: Tesla, Inc.

H01M4/623H01G9/0425H01G9/15H01M4/0435H01M4/622H01M4/625H01M10/0525H01M4/131H01M4/1391H01M4/1393H01M4/587

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method of fabricating a cathode of an energy storage device, comprising:

combining a first portion of a porous carbon material and at least one component of a composite binder material to form a first mixture, wherein the at least one component comprises at least one of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a PVDF co-polymer, and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO);

subjecting the first mixture to a high shear process; and

adding polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to the first mixture after the subjecting step to form a second mixture.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding at least one of an active material of the cathode, a second portion of the porous carbon material and a conductive carbon additive to the first mixture after the subjecting step.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the active material comprises a lithium metal oxide.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the active material comprises lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobalt oxide, or lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the porous carbon material comprises activated carbon.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one component comprises PVDF.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein combining comprises combining the first portion of the porous carbon material and the at least one component of the composite binder material at a mass ratio of 1:1 to 5:1.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a mass ratio of PTFE to the at least one component of the composite binder material is 1:5 to 5:1.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the high shear process comprises jet-milling.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is a dry fabrication process.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calendering the second mixture to form a free-standing cathode film.

12. A method of fabricating an energy storage device, comprising:

disposing the cathode film of claim 11 over a current collector to form a cathode; and

inserting an anode, the cathode and a separator within a housing, wherein the separator is positioned between the anode and the cathode.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the energy storage device is a lithium ion battery or a lithium ion capacitor.

14. A method of fabricating a cathode of an energy storage device, comprising:

combining a first portion of a porous carbon material and at least one component of a composite binder material to form a first mixture, wherein the at least one component comprises at least one of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a PVDF co-polymer, and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO);

subjecting the first mixture to a high shear process; and

adding an active material of the cathode to the first mixture after the subjecting step to form a second mixture.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising adding polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to the first mixture after the subjecting step.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein a mass ratio of PTFE to the at least one component of the composite binder material is 1:5 to 5:1.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising adding at least one of a second portion of the porous carbon material and a conductive carbon additive to the first mixture after the subjecting step.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein combining comprises combining the first portion of the porous carbon material and the at least one component of the composite binder material at a mass ratio of 1:1 to 5:1.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the high shear process comprises jet-milling.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method is a dry fabrication process.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (44)