Lithium battery having low leakage anode

• US 9,356,320 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2012
• Issued: 05/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KLA Corporation
• Original Assignee: Front Edge Technology, Inc
• Inventors: Shih, Tung-Hsiu, Nieh, Kai Wei, Krasnov, Victor, Liang, Jiuh-Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Crepeau, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US13/652,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20140106203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,324 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0436 Small-sized flat cells or batteries for portable equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/058 Construction or manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0585 of accumulators having only flat construction elements, i.e. flat positive electrodes, flat negative electrodes and flat separators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4292 Aspects relating to capacity ratio of electrodes/electrolyte or anode/cathode
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0407 by coating on an electrolyte layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0426 Sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/13 Electrodes for accumulators with non-aqueous electrolyte, e.g. for lithium-accumulators; Processes of manufacture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/139 Processes of manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A lithium battery comprises a support, and a plurality of battery component layers on the support, the battery component layers including a cathode having a cathode area with a plurality of cathode perimeter edges. An electrolyte is on the cathode, and an anode is on the electrolyte. The anode comprises an anode area with a plurality of anode perimeter edges, each anode perimeter edge having a corresponding cathode perimeter edge that lies adjacent to and below the anode perimeter edge. The anode area is sized so that at least one anode perimeter edge is terminated before its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to define a gap between the anode perimeter edge and the corresponding cathode perimeter edge, the gap having a gap distance G.

Claims

1. A lithium battery comprising:

(a) a support;

(b) a plurality of battery component layers on the support, the battery component layers including a cathode having a cathode area with a plurality of cathode perimeter edges;

(c) an electrolyte abutting the cathode;

(d) an anode abutting the electrolyte, the anode having an anode area bounded by anode perimeter edges, each anode perimeter edge having a corresponding cathode perimeter edge, and at least one anode perimeter edge being terminated before its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to define a gap between the anode perimeter edge and the corresponding cathode perimeter edge, the gap having a gap distance G; and

(e) an under-edge anode dielectric underneath an anode perimeter edge, the under-edge anode dielectric directly on, and covering, an electrolyte perimeter edge.

2. A battery according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of the anode perimeter edges are terminated before each of their corresponding cathode perimeter edges.

3. A battery according to claim 1 wherein G is at least 10 microns.

4. A battery according to claim 1 wherein G is from about 50 to about 1000 microns.

5. A battery according to claim 2 further comprising an anode perimeter edge that extends over its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to electrically couple to an anode contact bridge.

6. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the anode comprises a lithium-containing material.

7. A battery according to claim 6 wherein the lithium-containing material comprises elemental lithium.

8. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the anode comprises elemental copper.

9. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the anode comprises at least one of the following:

(i) a thickness of from about 0.1 microns to about 20 microns;

(ii) an anode area A_A relative to a cathode area A_C, such that the ratio of A_A;

A_C is at least about 0.99;

1;

(iii) an anode area A_A that is at least about 1% smaller than a cathode area A_C; and

(iv) an area of less than 1 cm².

10. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the cathode comprises a lithium metal oxide.

11. A battery according to claim 1 comprising an over-edge anode dielectric covering, and directly on, an electrolyte perimeter edge that is adjacent to an anode perimeter edge.

15. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the under-edge anode dielectric further covers a plurality of the electrolyte perimeter edges underneath the anode.

16. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the under-edge anode dielectric further covers an electrolyte sidewall.

17. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the under-edge anode dielectric comprises a metal oxide, metal nitride, or polymer.

18. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the under-edge anode dielectric comprises polyvinyldichloride (PVDC), polyurethane, parylene, or epoxy.

12. A lithium battery comprising:

(a) a support;

(b) a plurality of battery component layers on the support, the battery component layers including a cathode (i) comprising lithium metal oxide, and (ii) having a cathode area with a plurality of cathode perimeter edges;

(c) an electrolyte abutting the cathode, the electrolyte comprising lithium containing material; and

(d) an anode abutting the electrolyte, the anode having a plurality of anode perimeter edges that each have a corresponding cathode perimeter edge, with a first anode perimeter edge extending over its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to electrically couple to an anode contact bridge, and second anode perimeter edges terminating before their corresponding cathode perimeter edges to define a gap therebetween.

13. A battery according to claim 12 wherein the second anode perimeter edges are spaced apart from their corresponding cathode perimeter edges by a gap distance G.

14. A battery according to claim 13 wherein G is at least 10microns.