Length-wise welded electrodes incorporated in cylindrical cell format lithium-sulfur batteries
A lithium-sulfur battery includes a casing having a length and a width, the casing including at least an anode and a cathode wound into a jelly roll oriented parallel to the length of the casing, an electrolyte disposed in the lithium-sulfur battery, a negative terminal extending along the length of the casing, and a positive terminal extending along the length of the casing, the positive terminal and the negative terminal parallel to one another.
1. A lithium-sulfur battery comprising:
a cylindrical casing having a lid configured to be circumferentially welded to the casing;
a cylindrical jelly roll wound around a mandrel, wherein the jelly roll comprises:
an anode coupled to an anode current collector as an anode laminated sheet;
a cathode coupled to a cathode current collector as a cathode laminated sheet; and
a separator disposed between the anode laminated sheet and the cathode laminated sheet;
a negative terminal disposed along the length of the cylindrical casing and welded length-wise to the anode current collector, wherein the negative terminal is partially exposed outside the casing; and
a positive terminal comprising the mandrel welded length-wise to the cathode current collector and separated from the casing by an insulator disposed in the lid.
2. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein an electrolyte is disposed in the battery and configured to inhibit transport of lithium-containing polysulfide intermediate species from the cathode to the anode.
3. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the negative terminal and the positive terminal is formed of nickel.
4. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein the cathode current collector includes a carbonaceous scaffold formed from materials oriented at one or more defined angles relative to the cathode.
5. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , further comprising a separator pocket that is shorter than the length of the casing, wherein the separator is housed within the separator pocket.
6. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein the anode is a solid lithium layer, and the anode current collector is a copper foil.
7. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein the anode is configured to fold into the anode current collector, and the cathode is configured to fold into the cathode current collector.
8. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein the negative terminal has a “L” shape.
9. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the anode and the cathode has a length of 548 mm and a width of 100 mm.
10. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 , wherein the cathode is formed of a plurality of interconnected non-hollow carbonaceous particles.
11. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of interconnected non-hollow carbonaceous particles collectively define a plurality of multi-porous pathways, at least some of the plurality of multi-porous pathways configured to retain elemental sulfur.
12. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 1 wherein the separator comprises a ceramic containing material.
13. The lithium-sulfur battery of claim 12 , wherein the separator includes a plurality of pores configured to allow lithium ions to propagate between the anode and the cathode via the separator.