Claims
- 1. A method of treating a cathode material provided on a surface of a thin-film substrate, comprising:
moving the thin-film substrate between a feed mechanism and a take-up mechanism, some of the cathode material including defects protruding from a surface of the cathode material; and treating the cathode material surface at a treatment station with an abrasive material to reduce a height of the defects so as to increase an 85 degree gloss value of the cathode material surface by at least approximately 10.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the cathode material stirface further comprises moving a film of the abrasive material against the cathode material surface.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the film of the abrasive material comprises abrasive particles ranging in size between approximately 2 to 60 microns.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein moving the film of the abrasive material furtherl comprises moving the film of the abrasive material in a direction substantially opposite to a direction in which the thin-film substrate passes through the treatment station.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises moving a roller provided with the abrasive material against the cathode material surface.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein moving the roller provided with the abrasive material further comprises moving the roller of the abrasive material in a direction substantially opposite to a direction in which the thin-film substrate passes through the treatment station.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises:
treating the cathode material surface at a first treatment station with a first abrasive material of a first grade; and treating the cathode material surface at a second treatment station with a seconid abrasive material of at second grade.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises:
treating a surface of the cathode material provided on a first side of the thin-film substrate at a first treatment station; and treating a surface of the cathode material provided on a second side of the thin-film substrate at a second treatment station.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein treating the cathode material surfaces further comprises contemporaneously treating the cathode material surfaces provided on the first and second sides of the thin-film substrate, respectively.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein treating the cathode material surfaces further comprises treating the cathode material surfaces respectively provided on the first and second sides of the thin-film substrate in succession.
- 11. The method of claim 8, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises treating the cathode material surface with the abrasive material to reduce the height of the defects to a height of approximately 10 microns or less.
- 12. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises treating the cathode material surface with the abrasive material to reduce the height of the defects to a height which is less than a thickness of an electrolyte layer to be provided on the cathode material surface.
- 13. An apparatus for treating a cathode material provided on a surface of a thin-film substrate, comprising:
a feed mechanism and a take-up mechanism that cooperatively operate to move the thin-film substrate, some of the cathode material including defects protruding from a surface of the cathode material; and a treatment station for treating the cathode material surface with an abrasive material to reduce a height of the defects so as to increase an 85 degree gloss value of the cathode material surface by at least approximately 10.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the treatment station further comprises:
a first roller over which the thin-film substrate passes; and a second roller which drives a film of the abrasive material against the cathode material surface.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the thin-film substrate passes over a surface of the first roller having an arc length which varies as a function of a contact angle α, the contact angle α varying between approximately 80 and 160 degrees.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the treatment station further comprises:
a first roller over which the thin-film substrate passes; and a second roller which drives a film of the abrasive material over the first roller and against the cathode material surface.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the treatment station further comprises:
a first roller over which the thin-film substrate passes; and a second roller provided with the abrasive material which contacts the cathode material surface.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the treatment station further comprises:
a first treatment station for treating the cathode material surface with a first abrasive material of a first grade; and a second treatment station for treating the cathode material surface with a second abrasive material of a second grade.
- 19. The method of claim 13, wherein the treatment station further comprises:
a first treatment station for treating a surface of the cathode material provided on a first side of the thin-film substrate; and a second treatment station for treating a surface of the cathode material provided on a second side of the thin-film substrate.
- 20. A thin-film cathode prepared by a process comprising:
providing a thin-film substrate having a coating of cathode material disposed thereon, some of the cathode material including defects protruding from a surface of the cathode material; moving the thin-film substrate between a feed mechanism and a take-up mechanism; and treating the cathode material surface at a treatment station with an abrasive material to reduce a height of the defects so as to increase an 85 degree gloss value of the cathode material surface by at least approximately 10.
- 21. The cathode of claim 20, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises moving a film of the abrasive material in a direction substantially opposite to a direction in which the thin-film substrate passes through the treatment station.
- 22. The cathode of claim 21, wherein the film of the abrasive material comprises abrasive particles ranging in size between approximately 2 to 60 microns.
- 23. The cathode of claim 20, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises moving a roller provided with the abrasive material against the cathode material surface, the roller moving in a direction substantially opposite to a direction in which the thin-film substrate passes through the treatment station.
- 24. The cathode of claim 20, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises:
treating the cathode material surface at a first treatment station with a first abrasive material of a first grade; and treating the cathode material surface at a second treatment station with a second abrasive material of a second grade.
- 25. The cathode.of claim 20, wherein treating the cathode material surface further comprises:
treating a surface of the cathode material provided on a first side of the thin-film substrate at a first treatment station; and treating a surface of the cathode material provided on a second side of the thin-film substrate at a second treatment station.
- 26. The cathode of claim 20, wherein the height of the defects protruding from the cathode material surface is reduced in height to a ight no greater than approximately 10 microns.
- 27. The cathode of claim 20, wherein the height of the defects protruding from the cathode material surface is reduced to a height which is less than a thickness of an electrolyte layer to be provided on the cathode material surface.
- 28. A method of treating a cathode material provided on a surface of a thin-film substrate, comprising:
moving the thin-film substrate between a feed mechanism and a take-up mechanism, some of the cathode material including defects protruding from a surface of the cathode material; and treating the cathode material surface at a treatment station with an abrasive material to reduce a height of the defects to a height which is less than a thickness of an electrolyte layer to be provided on the cathode material surface.
- 29. The method of claim 28, wherein treating the cathode material further comprises treating the cathode material surface with the abrasive material to reduce the height of the defects to a height which is less than the electrolyte layer having a thickness of between 1 and 100 microns.
- 30. A method of treating a lithium anode foil, comprising:
moving the lithium anode foil between a feed mechanism and a take-up mechanism, the anode foil including a passivation layer developed on a surface of the anode foil; and treating the anode foil surface at a treatment station with a film of abrasive material to cleanse and reduce a roughness of the anode foil surface.
- 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the film of the abrasive material comprises abrasive particles ranging in size between approximately 2 to 60 microns.
- 32. The method of claim 30, wherein treating the anode foil surface further comprises moving the film of abrasive material in a direction substantially opposite to a direction in which the anode foil passes through the treatment station.
- 33. The method of claim 30, wherein treating the anode foil surface further comprises:
treating the anode foil surface at a first treatment station with a first abrasive material of a first grade; and treating the anode foil surface at a second treatment station with a second abrasive material of a second grade.
- 34. TIhe method of claim 30, wherein treating the anode foil surface further comprises reducing a roughness of the anode foil surface to approximately 1 to 2 microns of smoothness.
GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS
1. The Government of the United States of America has rights in this invention pursuant to Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC02-91CE50336 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08989502 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Child |
09730054 |
Dec 2000 |
US |