Bipolar battery, battery system and battery system temperature control device

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of new energy batteries, and provides a bipolar battery, a battery system and a battery system temperature control device, wherein the bipolar battery comprises: a conductive substrate, wherein the conductive substrate has a first surface and a second surface arranged oppositely in a first direction, wherein the first surface is coated with a positive electrode active material, and the second surface is coated with a negative electrode active material to form a bipolar pole piece; the conductive substrate is penetrated between the first surface and the second surface to form a channel, and the channel is used to heat or cool the conductive substrate; a frame is arranged along the periphery of the bipolar pole piece and seals the bipolar pole piece; the frame has two side surfaces arranged oppositely in a second direction, and the two ends of the channel extend to the two side surfaces respectively and form two openings connected to the outside. The fluid can flow in from the opening at one end of the channel and flow out from the opening at the other end, thereby penetrating the entire channel and then exchanging heat with the conductive substrate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of new energy batteries, and in particular to a bipolar battery, a battery system and a battery system temperature control device. Background Art

[0002] A bipolar battery includes a conductive substrate and a first electrode plate and a second electrode plate coated on both sides of the conductive substrate, wherein the first electrode plate is composed of a positive electrode material and the second electrode plate is composed of a negative electrode material. Bipolar batteries have the characteristics of a short conductive path and a larger contact area between the positive and negative electrodes, so they can be charged and discharged at a higher current, which is conducive to improving the utilization rate of active materials.

[0003] Bipolar batteries generate a lot of heat when working, which will affect the battery life, so heat dissipation design is needed. The current bipolar battery structure design is unreasonable, which makes the heat dissipation effect of the bipolar battery through the shell poor, making it difficult for the heat of the bipolar battery to dissipate into the air, thereby shortening the service life of the bipolar battery. In some other working scenarios, such as winter in the north, the battery needs to be preheated to improve its working performance. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art, the present application provides a bipolar battery, a battery system and a battery system temperature control device. The bipolar battery comprises:

[0005] A conductive substrate, wherein the conductive substrate has a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other in a first direction, the first surface is coated with a positive electrode active material, and the second surface is coated with a negative electrode active material to form a bipolar pole piece; the conductive substrate is penetrated between the first surface and the second surface to form a channel, and the channel is used to heat or cool the conductive substrate;

[0006] The frame is arranged along the periphery of the bipolar pole piece and seals the bipolar pole piece; the frame has two side surfaces arranged opposite to each other in the second direction, and the two ends of the channel extend to the two side surfaces respectively and form two openings connected to the outside.

[0007] In a possible implementation, the conductive substrate includes two current collectors stacked and combined along the first direction, the facing surfaces of the two current collectors are relatively recessed to form a first groove, and the projections of the two oppositely arranged first grooves in the first direction overlap to form the channel.

[0008] In a possible implementation manner, the first grooves are distributed on the current collector at equal intervals.

[0009] In a possible implementation manner, a second groove is disposed on the first surface and / or the second surface, and the number of the first groove and the number of the second groove are both plural, and the projections of the first groove and the second groove in the first direction are staggered with each other.

[0010] In a possible implementation, a plurality of spaced-apart channels are provided in the conductive substrate, and the channels are configured to pass air or heat exchange liquid; a plurality of the channels tend to converge at the first end, and a plurality of the channels extending from the first end to the second end tend to diverge.

[0011] In a possible implementation manner, the side surface protrudes at the first end to form a clamping portion.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, the portion of the channel away from the first end is linear or irregular in shape.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner, the frame is composed of a plurality of stacked frame units, and a liquid injection hole is provided on the frame unit.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, the conductive substrate is a metal piece, and at least one of a nickel layer, a carbon layer, and a titanium layer is coated on the surface of the current collector constituting the channel.

[0015] The present application also provides a battery system, including several groups of bipolar batteries, wherein the bipolar batteries are constructed as the bipolar batteries described above.

[0016] The present application also provides a battery system temperature control device, which is used to control the temperature of the above-mentioned battery system. The battery system temperature control device includes a heat exchanger, and the fluid outlet of the heat exchanger is connected to the channel.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present application are as follows: The present application provides a bipolar battery, comprising a conductive substrate and a frame, wherein the conductive substrate is penetrated between the first surface and the second surface to form a channel, and the two ends of the channel extend to the two sides of the frame respectively and form two openings connected to the outside. Therefore, air (including hot air flow and normal temperature air) or coolant can flow in from the opening at one end of the channel and flow out from the opening at the other end, thereby penetrating the entire channel, and then taking away the heat at the conductive substrate or heating the conductive substrate. The setting of the channel not only increases the surface area of ​​the conductive substrate, but also increases the heat exchange area between the conductive substrate and the air; at the same time, the design of the conductive substrate being open at both ends allows the fluid to completely pass through the conductive substrate, so the channel also provides favorable conditions for convection heat dissipation and preheating of the conductive substrate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing a bipolar battery with the conductive substrate exposed after the outer shell and the guide plate are removed;

[0020] Figure 2 A first angle schematic diagram of a single conductive substrate is shown;

[0021] Figure 3 A second angle schematic diagram of a single conductive substrate is shown;

[0022] Figure 4 Shows Figure 1 A partial enlarged view of the middle A;

[0023] Figure 5 Shows Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of point B in the middle;

[0024] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of a single frame unit is shown;

[0025] Figure 7 A partial cross-sectional view of the conductive substrate in a first direction is shown;

[0026] Figure 8 A schematic diagram showing the battery system temperature control device performing air cooling on the battery system is shown.

[0027] Description of main component symbols:

[0028] 100, conductive substrate; 110, first surface; 120, second surface; 130, channel; 131, first end; 132, second end; 140, current collector; 150, first groove; 160, second groove; 200, frame; 210, injection hole; 220, frame unit; 230, clamping part; 300, positive electrode active material; 400, negative electrode active material; 500, diaphragm; 600, fan; 610, exhaust port; 700, battery system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention, and cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0030] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0031] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0032] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0033] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above", "above" or "above" a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below", "below" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0034] Embodiment 1

[0035] When bipolar batteries are working, they will generate a lot of heat, which will affect the battery life and cause thermal runaway, so heat dissipation design is needed. The current bipolar battery structure design is unreasonable and the heat dissipation effect is poor, which makes it difficult for the heat of the bipolar battery to dissipate into the air. In addition, the battery needs to be preheated before working to improve its working performance.

[0036] In order to improve the problem of poor heat dissipation efficiency using the shell due to unreasonable structure in the prior art, an embodiment of the present application provides a bipolar battery, which enhances the convective heat exchange between the fluid and the bipolar battery by reasonably arranging the heat dissipation part, thereby improving the heat dissipation efficiency or cooling effect of the bipolar battery, and enabling the battery to be preheated before operation.

[0037] See also Figure 1 This embodiment provides a bipolar battery, including a conductive substrate 100 and a frame 200 , wherein most of the structure of the conductive substrate 100 is enclosed by the frame 200 , and only a portion used for heat dissipation is exposed from the frame 200 .

[0038] See also Figures 2 to 4 , the conductive substrate 100 has a first surface 110 and a second surface 120 arranged opposite to each other in the first direction, the first surface 110 is coated with a positive electrode active material 300, and the second surface 120 is coated with a negative electrode active material 400, forming a bipolar pole piece; the conductive substrate 100 is penetrated between the first surface 110 and the second surface 120 to form a channel 130, and the channel is used to heat or cool the conductive substrate. Specifically, the conductive substrate 100 is generally in a plate-like structure, and the first direction is the thickness direction of the bipolar battery and the conductive substrate 100. The size of the conductive substrate 100 in the thickness direction is significantly smaller than the size in other directions. The first surface 110 and the second surface 120 occupy most of the surface area of ​​the conductive substrate 100, which is used to fully coat and conduct the heat generated by the positive and negative active materials 400; because the channel 130 is between the first surface 110 and the second surface 120, the heat generated on both sides of the conductive substrate 100 can be dissipated through the channel 130.

[0039] The frame 200 is arranged along the periphery of the bipolar pole piece and is sealed to form the bipolar pole piece; the frame 200 is provided with a liquid injection hole 210 in its circumferential direction to allow the electrolyte to flow into the areas on both sides of the conductive substrate 100. The frame 200 has two side surfaces arranged opposite to each other in the second direction, and the two side surfaces are provided with openings arranged in cooperation with the channel 130, and the two ends of the channel 130 extend to the two side surfaces respectively and communicate with the outside through the openings on the side surfaces. In some embodiments, the frame 200 has a rectangular structure, and the second direction is the length direction of the frame 200 and is perpendicular to the first direction.

[0040] See also Figures 2 to 4Since the ends of the channel 130 form openings located on two opposite sides of the bipolar battery, the two openings are not on the first surface 110 or the second surface 120, and will not be blocked by the frame 200 or the positive and negative active materials 400. Air (including hot air flow and room temperature air) or heat exchange liquid can flow in from the opening at one end of the channel 130 and flow out from the opening at the other end, thereby penetrating the entire channel 130, and then taking away the heat at the conductive substrate 100 or heating the conductive substrate. It can be seen that the setting of the channel 130 not only increases the surface area of ​​the conductive substrate 100, but also increases the heat exchange area between the conductive substrate 100 and the air; at the same time, the design of the conductive substrate 100 being open at both ends allows the fluid to completely pass through the conductive substrate 100, so the channel 130 also provides favorable conditions for convection heat dissipation and preheating of the conductive substrate 100.

[0041] In other optional embodiments, the conductive substrate 100 may also be a plate body in a circular, trapezoidal or other shapes. Optionally, the conductive substrate 100 may not be a plate body, and thus has no obvious thickness direction.

[0042] Please refer to Figure 4 In some embodiments, a bipolar battery has a plurality of conductive substrates 100 stacked and spaced along a first direction, and the conductive substrates 100 and the positive and negative active materials 400 applied thereon form a single battery unit, and adjacent battery units are spaced by separators 500. Specifically, the battery active materials coated on the facing surfaces of adjacent conductive substrates 100 are always different, so that the two sides of all separators 500 are respectively coated with positive active materials 300 and negative active materials 400, and the surfaces of the two most edge conductive substrates 100 in the first direction are respectively coated with positive active materials 300 and negative active materials 400. In addition, the projections of the plurality of conductive substrates 100 and the plurality of battery units in the first direction overlap to form a plate-like battery structure.

[0043] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 6 In some embodiments, the frame 200 is composed of a plurality of frame units 220 stacked together, and a liquid injection hole 210 is provided on the frame unit 220, and each battery unit is correspondingly provided with a liquid injection hole 210.

[0044] Please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 7 , Figure 7The shaded part and the white part respectively represent two current collectors 140 combined together; in some embodiments, the conductive substrate 100 includes two current collectors 140 stacked and combined along the first direction, and the facing surfaces of the two current collectors 140 are relatively recessed to form a first groove 150. The relative recess here means that the directions of the recesses of the two facing surfaces are opposite, such as the facing surfaces on one current collector 140 are recessed upward, and the facing surfaces on the other current collector 140 combined with it are recessed downward. The projections of the two first grooves 150 arranged opposite to each other in the first direction overlap to form a channel 130. Specifically, the two current collectors can be fixedly connected by welding or integral molding.

[0045] Designing the conductive substrate 100 to be formed by combining two current collectors 140 is conducive to reducing the production cost of the conductive substrate 100. It is understandable that the processing cost of penetrating the side of the plate-like member to form the channel 130 is much greater than producing two plate-like members with grooves, and the two current collectors 140 can be designed as standard parts of the same shape, further reducing the production cost.

[0046] In some preferred embodiments, the first groove 150 is a square groove, and two relatively recessed square grooves form a channel 130 with a rectangular cross-section; this is set because the conductive substrate 100 is generally also square, and setting the cross-section of the channel 130 to a rectangle is conducive to making the thickness of the conductive substrate 100 uniform; in other optional embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the channel 130 can be adjusted, such as being set to a circular, elliptical or other polygonal form to make it adapt to the shape of the conductive substrate 100.

[0047] In some embodiments, the first grooves 150 are evenly spaced on the current collector 140 . This arrangement is to allow the conductive substrate 100 to evenly dissipate heat into the channel 130 .

[0048] Please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 7 In some embodiments, a second groove 160 is provided on the first surface 110 and / or the second surface 120, and the number of the first groove 150 and the second groove 160 are both multiple, and the projections of the two in the first direction are staggered. The second groove 160 is used to accommodate the positive electrode active material 300 or the negative electrode active material 400 to increase the adhesion between the positive and negative electrode active materials 400 and the conductive substrate 100. The first groove 150 and the second groove 160 are arranged in a staggered manner, which is conducive to the conductive substrate 100 to dissipate heat from different angles, and is also conducive to thinning the thickness of the entire conductive substrate 100, that is, the thickness of the entire conductive substrate 100 can be less than the sum of the depths of the first groove 150 and the second groove 160, and the side of the conductive substrate 100 is also made to be S-shaped, which is conducive to increasing the overall specific surface area of ​​the conductive substrate 100 and improving the heat dissipation effect of the conductive substrate 100.

[0049] In some optional embodiments, the shapes of the first groove 150 and the second groove 160 are adapted. For example, when the first groove 150 is a square groove, the second groove 160 is also a square groove; when the first groove 150 is a semicircular groove, the second groove 160 is also a semicircular groove. This arrangement can make it easier for the current collector 140 to be stamped on both sides of the original part forming the current collector 140 by a stamping part of the same shape, thereby reducing production costs.

[0050] Please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 In some optional embodiments, the conductive substrate 100 is provided with a plurality of channels 130 arranged at intervals, and the channels are configured to pass air or heat exchange liquid (heat exchange liquid refers to coolant or liquid with a higher temperature than the battery, and the specific temperature of the liquid passed depends on whether the purpose of cooling or heating the battery is determined); a plurality of channels 130 tend to converge at the first end 131, and a plurality of channels 130 extending from the first end 131 to the second end 132 tend to diverge. It should be noted that the divergent trend of the channels 130 referred to here includes at least one of the following two meanings: the first meaning refers to the gradual increase in the spacing between the channels 130, and the second meaning refers to the gradual increase in the width of the channels 130.

[0051] It should be understood that a fan can be provided at one end of the channel 130 to accelerate the convective heat dissipation of the conductive substrate 100. The first end 131 here refers to the end where the fan draws air into the channel 130, and the second end 132 refers to the end where the air is sucked into the channel 130. The channels 130 are converged at the first end 131, which is conducive to concentrating the wind force of the fan and increasing the flow rate of the air in the conductive substrate 100; the portions of the channels 130 extending from the first end 131 to the second end 132 are divergent, which is conducive to the channels 130 covering all areas inside the conductive substrate 100, so that all areas of the conductive substrate 100 can dissipate heat through the channels 130. In some other embodiments, the channels 130 can also be connected to a circulating water machine, and the circulating water machine injects cooling water or hot water into the channels to achieve the purpose of cooling the battery and preheating the battery respectively.

[0052] In some optional embodiments, the side surface of the frame 200 protrudes on one side of the first end 131 to form a clamping portion 230. The clamping portion 230 is used to connect and fix the fan and the bipolar battery.

[0053] In some optional embodiments, the channel 130 is linear or irregular in shape at a portion away from the first end 131. It is understandable that when the channel 130 is linear, it is beneficial to maintain the wind speed of the air sucked into the channel 130. If the channel 130 is spiral, it is easy to reduce the wind speed of the sucked air due to being blocked by the conductive substrate 100.

[0054] In some preferred embodiments, considering that the plurality of channels 130 need to converge at the first end 131, the shapes of the plurality of channels 130 can be designed to be different. Figure 2 The channels 130 in the middle of the conductive substrate 100 are all straight as a whole, and the wind speed of the blown air is maintained to the maximum extent. The channels 130 on both sides of the conductive substrate 100 diverge from the first end 131 to the center of the conductive substrate 100 until all areas on the conductive substrate 100 are covered by the channels 130, and then the channels 130 on both sides of the conductive substrate 100 extend in a straight line toward the second end 132.

[0055] In some optional embodiments, the conductive substrate 100 is a metal member, and at least one of a nickel layer, a carbon layer, and a titanium layer is coated on the surface of the conductive substrate 100 constituting the channel 130 .

[0056] Considering that the conductive substrate 100 needs to transfer the heat of the bipolar battery to the air, the conductive substrate 100 is preferably made of a metal with a high thermal conductivity, such as copper; at the same time, the metal can also ensure good structural strength. Furthermore, a nickel layer or a carbon layer can be coated on the surface of the conductive substrate 100 forming the channel 130 to further improve the heat dissipation efficiency.

[0057] The specific working principle of this device is as follows: a fan is used to suck air into the channel 130 on the side of the first end 131, and air (including hot air flow and air at room temperature) or coolant can flow in from an opening at one end of the channel 130 and flow out from an opening at the other end, thereby penetrating the entire channel 130, and then taking away the heat at the conductive substrate 100 or heating the conductive substrate. It can be seen that the setting of the channel 130 not only increases the surface area of ​​the conductive substrate 100, but also increases the heat exchange area between the conductive substrate 100 and the air; at the same time, the design of the conductive substrate 100 being open at both ends allows air to completely pass through the conductive substrate 100, so the channel 130 also provides favorable conditions for convection heat dissipation and preheating of the conductive substrate 100.

[0058] Embodiment 2

[0059] Please refer to Figure 8This embodiment provides a battery system 700, including a plurality of groups of bipolar batteries, wherein the bipolar batteries are constructed as the bipolar batteries in Embodiment 1. In some preferred embodiments, the first ends of the plurality of groups of bipolar batteries are all located on the same side of the battery system 700, so that a single heat exchanger uniformly exchanges heat for the plurality of groups of bipolar batteries.

[0060] Embodiment 3

[0061] Please refer to Figure 8 This embodiment provides a battery system temperature control device, which is used to control the temperature of the battery system 700 in the second embodiment. The battery system temperature control device includes a heat exchanger and a fluid outlet docking channel of the heat exchanger.

[0062] In some embodiments, the heat exchanger is a fan 600 (the fan 600 includes a hot air fan and a circulating air fan, and the specific fan selected depends on whether the purpose of battery heat dissipation or heating is determined), and the air intake 610 or air outlet of the fan 600 is connected to the channel. In a preferred embodiment, a single fan 600 has multiple air intake 610 or air outlets, so that a single fan 600 can connect to all channels of more than two battery systems 700.

[0063] In some other embodiments, the heat exchanger is a water circulation machine, which injects cooling water or hot water into the channel to achieve the purpose of cooling the battery and preheating the battery respectively. The present application does not limit the structure of the heat exchanger, as long as it can input fluid into the channel to produce a heat exchange effect.

[0064] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples, without contradiction.

[0065] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is to be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not to be construed as limitations of the present invention. A person skilled in the art may change, modify, replace and vary the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A bipolar battery, characterized in that: include: A conductive substrate, wherein the conductive substrate has a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other in a first direction, the first surface is coated with a positive electrode active material, and the second surface is coated with a negative electrode active material to form a bipolar pole piece; The conductive substrate is penetrated between the first surface and the second surface to form a channel, and the channel is used to heat or cool the conductive substrate; A frame, arranged along the periphery of the bipolar pole piece and sealing the bipolar pole piece; The frame has two side surfaces that are arranged opposite to each other in the second direction, and two ends of the channel extend to the two side surfaces respectively to form two openings that communicate with the outside; The conductive substrate comprises two current collectors stacked and combined along the first direction, the facing surfaces of the two current collectors are relatively recessed to form a first groove, and the projections of the two first grooves arranged opposite to each other in the first direction overlap to form the channel; The first grooves are distributed on the current collector at equal intervals; A second groove is disposed on the first surface and / or the second surface. The first groove and the second groove are both plural in number, and their projections in the first direction are interlaced with each other.

2. The bipolar battery according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conductive substrate is provided with a plurality of channels arranged at intervals, and the channels are configured to pass air or heat exchange liquid; a plurality of the channels tend to converge at the first end, and a plurality of the channels extending from the first end to the second end tend to diverge.

3. The bipolar battery according to claim 2, characterized in that: The side surface protrudes at the first end to form a clamping portion; the channel is linear or irregular in shape at a portion away from the first end.

4. The bipolar battery according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frame is composed of a plurality of frame units stacked together, and a liquid injection hole is arranged on the frame unit.

5. The bipolar battery according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conductive substrate is a metal piece, and at least one of a nickel layer, a carbon layer and a titanium layer is coated on the surface of the current collector constituting the channel.

6. A battery system, characterized in that: The invention comprises several groups of bipolar batteries, wherein the bipolar batteries are constructed as the bipolar batteries according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A battery system temperature control device, characterized in that: The temperature regulating device is used to regulate the temperature of the battery system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the temperature regulating device of the battery system comprises a heat exchanger, and the fluid outlet of the heat exchanger is connected to the channel.

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