Battery Packaging Material Lubricant Transfer Prevention
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The use of metallic battery packaging materials limits shape diversification and weight reduction in batteries, and the lubrication method for film-shaped laminates can lead to contamination of the mold during molding, resulting in defective sealing and reduced productivity.
Innovation Solution
A battery packaging material comprising a laminate with a base material layer, a barrier layer, and a heat-sealable resin layer containing a lubricant, where the heat-sealable resin layer has a specific indentation depth and dynamic friction coefficient when tested with a Vickers-shaped indenter, preventing lubricant adhesion to the mold and ensuring continuous productivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a mold made of stainless steel with high surface smoothness is used for molding the battery packaging material, then the surface smoothness of the mold is improved, but the lubricant on the heat-sealable resin layer is likely to be abraded and transferred into the mold, causing mold contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the heat-sealable resin layer by controlling the molecular weight distribution and composition of the polyolefin resin. Specifically, it uses a resin with a specific melt flow rate (1.0-5.0 g/10min at 230°C) and incorporates a nucleating agent to control crystallization behavior. These parameter changes result in a resin layer with appropriate hardness and surface properties that prevent lubricant abrasion while maintaining moldability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite heat-sealable resin layer by combining polyolefin resin with specific additives including nucleating agents (0.01-1.0 parts by weight per 100 parts resin) and lubricants (0.1-5.0 parts by weight per 100 parts resin). This composite formulation achieves the optimal balance between surface hardness (to prevent lubricant transfer) and moldability (to enable proper forming), resolving the contradiction between mold smoothness and lubricant stability.
2Reliability
If the frequency of cleaning the mold is increased to remove adhering lubricant, then the quality of sealing is improved, but the continuous productivity of batteries is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The heat-sealable resin layer effectively serves itself by maintaining an stable surface that prevents lubricant transfer to the mold. The controlled resin composition and hardness create a self-protecting surface that resists abrasion and lubricant migration during the molding process, eliminating the need for frequent mold cleaning and maintaining both sealing quality and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
By precisely controlling the resin parameters (melt flow rate, molecular weight distribution, crystallization temperature) and additive concentrations, the invention creates a resin layer with optimal surface hardness and lubricity balance. This parameter optimization ensures that the lubricant remains on the resin layer surface without transferring to the mold, maintaining sealing quality while enabling continuous production without frequent cleaning interruptions.
3Reliability
If metallic packaging materials are used for batteries, then the sealing performance is improved, but the weight reduction and shape diversification are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces rigid metallic packaging with a flexible film-shaped laminate structure consisting of multiple layers including a heat-sealable resin layer. This thin-film packaging material achieves hermetic sealing through heat-welding of the resin layer, providing equivalent sealing performance to metal while enabling significant weight reduction and flexibility for diverse battery shapes.
Solution Approach 2:
The film-shaped packaging is constructed as a composite laminate with multiple functional layers: a base material layer, a barrier layer for gas/moisture protection, an adhesive layer for lamination, and a heat-sealable resin layer for hermetic sealing. This composite structure achieves metal-level sealing performance while maintaining the weight and shape advantages of polymer materials.
4Ease of manufacture
If the heat-sealable resin layer is made more lubricious to prevent cracks during molding, then the moldability is improved, but the lubricant is more likely to transfer to the mold, causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the lubricant content and type in the heat-sealable resin layer, controlling it to 0.1-5.0 parts by weight per 100 parts resin. It also controls the resin's melt flow rate (1.0-5.0 g/10min) and incorporates nucleating agents to control crystallization. These parameter changes create a resin layer with sufficient surface lubricity for easy molding while maintaining enough surface hardness to prevent excessive lubricant transfer to the mold.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat-sealable resin layer is formulated as a composite material combining polyolefin resin with specifically controlled amounts of lubricants and nucleating agents. This composite formulation achieves the optimal balance between moldability (requiring surface lubricity) and lubricant stability (requiring surface hardness), allowing the material to be readily drawn into the mold without excessive lubricant transfer.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances continuous battery productivity by preventing lubricant contamination of the mold and ensuring uniform heat-sealing, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency and quality of battery packaging.
Implementation Method 1
the heat-sealable resin layer contains a lubricant
Implementation Method 2
when a Vickers-shaped indenter is pressed into a surface of the heat-sealable resin layer opposite to the barrier layer at a loading speed of 5 mN/10 sec
Implementation Method 3
the peripheral region with the heat-sealable resin layer being opposed to itself... during heat-sealing of the heat-sealable resin layer
Data Source
AI summary
A battery packaging material that is excellent in continuous productivity of batteries. A battery packaging material comprising a laminate having at least a base material layer, a barrier layer, and a heat-sealable resin layer in this order, wherein the heat-sealable resin layer contains a lubricant, and when a Vickers-shaped indenter is pressed into a surface of the heat-sealable resin layer opposite to the barrier layer at a loading speed of 5 mN/10 sec, using PICODENTOR (registered trademark) HM500, in an environment at a temperature of 24° C. and a relative humidity of 50%, an indentation depth of the indenter into the heat-sealable resin layer at the point when a load on the indenter reaches 3.0 mN is 5.8 μm or less.