Electrochemical separators with inserted conductive layers

a technology of conductive layer and separator, which is applied in the direction of secondary cell servicing/maintenance, cell components, instruments, etc., can solve the problems of thermal runaway in batteries, and achieve the effects of enhancing the safety of the cell, limiting or preventing hot spots and/or thermal runaway, and prolonging the cycle li

Inactive Publication Date: 2015-06-18
CALIFORNIA INST OF TECH
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  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]Thermal runaway in batteries is triggered by portions of the battery reaching excessive temperatures and can occur as a result of an internal or external electrical or electronical short between the positive and the negative electrode. Causes of internal shorts include dendrites or foreign materials in the battery. In one aspect, the disclosure provides electrochemical cells including a composite separator capable of limiting or preventing hot spots and/or thermal runaway upon formation of an electr

Problems solved by technology

Thermal runaway in batteries is triggered by portions of the battery reaching excessive temperatures and can occur as a result of an internal or external ele

Method used

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  • Electrochemical separators with inserted conductive layers
  • Electrochemical separators with inserted conductive layers
  • Electrochemical separators with inserted conductive layers

Examples

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example 1

Multilayer Separators Made of Materials that Upon Electronic Contact with an Electrode Result in an Observable Change in Voltage

[0149]The electrochemical cells in this disclosure include, but are not limited to, batteries, fuel cells, flow batteries and semi-solid batteries. Any of the electrode active materials can be solid, liquid, gas, flowable semi-solid or condensed liquid composition. A flowable anodic semi-solid (also referred to herein as “anolyte”) and / or a flowable cathodic semi-solid (also referred to herein as “catholyte”) are / is comprised of a suspension of electrochemically-active agents (anode particulates and / or cathode particulates) and, optionally, electronically conductive particles (e.g., carbon). The cathodic particles and conductive particles are co-suspended in an electrolyte to produce a catholyte semi-solid. The anodic particles and conductive particles are co-suspended in an electrolyte to produce an anolyte semi-solid. All voltages are wrt Li+ / Li.

[0150]Saf...

example 2

Electrochemical Systems with Inserted Conductive Layers

[0156]This example relates to methods in order to stop, slow down or control the dendrite formation in electrochemical plating such as in rechargeable electrochemical cells with lithium metal, zinc metal or aluminum metal anodes, for example in Li-air, Zn-air and Al-air batteries. This disclosure enables high energy, high rate and high cycle life (high performance) rechargeable batteries. Other applications such as electroplating gold or other materials of interest such as other metals can also benefit from this disclosure.

[0157]Different methods are suggested for this purpose. One method is based on manipulating the electric filed near the electrode of interest. In any electroplating, the electric field plays a role in the morphology and speed of the deposition. As an example, there may be some inhomogeneities or impurities (existing such as those from the substrate material or in situ forming such as those from the reactions b...

example 3

Electrochemical Cells with Improved Safety and Performance

[0167]An electrochemical cell is introduced, consisting of an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte, one or more separator layer(s) and an electronically conductive layer.

[0168]The electronically conductive layer may have no electronic connections with one of the electrodes or may have no electronic connections with any of the electrodes.

[0169]The electronically conductive layer can be porous, perforated, nonwoven or thin coating. The size of the holes can be from 10 nm to 1 cm, depending on the chemistry of the cell. For example in a lithium ion battery it can be about 0.2 mm. In an alkaline battery (Zinc anode based or Nickel cathode based) it can be about 0.5 mm. The thickness of the layer can be less than 1 mm, preferably less than 0.1 mm depending on the chemistry. For example in li-ion battery it can be about 0.01 mm. In an alkaline battery (Zinc anode based or Nickel cathode based) it can be about 0.1 mm. The layer itself c...

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Abstract

Disclosed are electrochemical cells including a composite separator capable of changing the performance of the cell by a) changing the internal electric field of the cell, b) activating lost active material, c) providing an auxiliary current collector for an electrode and/or d) limiting or preventing hot spots and/or thermal runaway upon formation of an electronic short in the system. An exemplary composite separator includes at least one electronically conducting layer and at least one electronically insulating layer. Another exemplary composite separator includes an electronically conducting layer and a solid ionic conductor. Also disclosed are methods for detecting and managing the onset of a short in an electrochemical cell and for charging an electrochemical cell.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 905,678, filed Nov. 18, 2013; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 938,794, filed Feb. 12, 2014; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 985,204, filed Apr. 28, 2014 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 024,104, filed Jul. 14, 2014; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties to the extent not inconsistent herewith.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0002]Over the last few decades revolutionary advances have been made in electrochemical storage and conversion devices expanding the capabilities of these systems in a variety of fields including portable electronic devices, air and space craft technologies, passenger vehicles and biomedical instrumentation. Current state of the art electrochemical storage and conversion devices have designs and performance attributes that are specifically engineered to provide compatibility with a diver...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): H01M2/16H01M10/48G01R31/36H01M10/42H01M50/457H01M50/489H01M50/491H01M50/494H01M50/497
CPCH01M2/1686H01M10/4257G01R31/3624G01R31/361G01R31/362H01M10/48H01M10/052H01M10/4235Y02E60/10H01M50/497H01M50/491H01M50/489H01M50/457H01M50/494G01R31/3828G01R31/3835G01R31/3842H01M50/46
Inventor ROUMI, FARSHID
Owner CALIFORNIA INST OF TECH
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