The present application claims priority to Taiwanese Patent Application 110109696 filed in the Taiwanese Patent Office on Mar. 18, 2021 and Taiwanese Patent Application 111100917 filed in the Taiwanese Patent Office on Jan. 10, 2022, the entire contents of which is being incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to an electrode assembly, in particular to an electrode assembly and its battery device thereof, which the electrochemical systems are folded to be stacked along with a z-axis.
In recent years, with the rapid development of various portable electronic products, electric vehicles, power storage stations, there is a high demand for energy storage devices with both high energy storage density and environmental protection. The ion secondary batteries are the optimal solution. Further, various secondary batteries such as lithium ion secondary batteries, magnesium ion secondary batteries, and sodium ion secondary batteries have been developed. Therefore, how to improve the energy density as much as possible in a limited space has always been the focus of the development of the entire related industry.
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Therefore, this invention provides an electrode assembly and its battery device thereof to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
It is a primary objective of this invention to provide an electrode assembly and its battery device thereof. The electrochemical systems of the electrode assembly are folded to be vertically stacked in a zigzag shape. The bending position includes only the belt current collector and the glue frame to prevent the active materials to be broken.
It is another objective of this invention to provide an electrode assembly and its battery device thereof. The electrochemical systems of the electrode assembly are folded to be vertically stacked in a zigzag shape and for the electrical connections. Therefore, the amount of the tabs configured to be connected in series or parallel is reduced. The production efficiency and the arrangement for power requirements are improved, and the difficulty in manufacturing processes and the energy density loss caused by space configuration are reduced.
It is also another objective of this invention to provide an electrode assembly and its battery device thereof. The electrode assembly is formed by the electrochemical systems and the glue frame to be directly sandwiched between two belt current collectors. Therefore, it is easy to mass produce and to be productized for mass production.
In order to implement the abovementioned, this invention discloses an electrode assembly, which includes a first belt current collector, a second belt current collector, a glue frame, a plurality of electrochemical systems and a plurality of bending portions. The electrochemical systems are disposed between the first belt current collector and the second belt current collector. The electrochemical systems are completely sealed by the glue frame, the first belt current collector and the second belt current collector, to make charge transfer occurring between adjacent two of the electrochemical systems without electrochemical reaction. The glue frame, which are located between any two adjacent electrochemical systems, together with the first belt current collector and the second belt current collector adhered by these portions of the glue frame are folded to form the bending portions. The electrochemical systems are vertically stacked repeatedly in a back to front orientation along with a single axis. Therefore, the disadvantages caused by shared electrolytes are eliminated via the completely sealed electrochemical systems, in which only charge transfer occurring between two adjacent of the electrochemical systems without preforming electrochemical reaction. The bending position only includes the glue frame and the belt current collector adhered by the glue frame to prevent the active materials to be broken.
Moreover, this invention discloses a battery device. A housing is utilized to package the electrode assembly. The fire retardant or the coolant is filled between the electrode assembly and the housing to improve heat dissipation efficiency to maintain battery performance and the battery device safety is also enhanced.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. Any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn on scale for illustrative purposes.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the general inventive concept. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.
In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms “installation”, “connected”, and “disposed” are to be understood broadly, and may be fixed or detachable, for example, can be mechanical or electrical, can be connected directly or indirectly, through an intermediate medium, which can be the internal connection between two components. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in the specific circumstances by those skilled in the art.
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The materials of the first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33 are copper (Cu), Aluminum (Al), or nickel (Ni), tin (Sn), silver (Ag), gold (Au), or an alloy comprised of at least one of the foregoing metals, or polymer materials with high electrical conductivity, such as polymers mixing with electrically conductive materials. Due to the first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33 are belt-shaped, it is easy to mass produce by patterned coating.
The electrochemical system 301 includes a first active material layer 34, a second active material layer 35, a separator 31 disposed between the first active material layer 34 and the second active material layer 35 and the electrolyte system impregnated or mixed in the first active material layers 34 and the second active material layers 35. As above mentioned, any two of the electrochemical systems 301 do not share any components, such as the first active material layers 34, the second active material layers 35, the separators 31 or the electrolyte systems. An example embodiment for the manufacturing method is described below. The inner side of the first belt current collector 32 is respectively and repeatedly coated with the first active material layers 34 by a predetermined spacing. The inner side of the second belt current collector 33 is respectively and repeatedly coated with the second active material layers 35 by the same predetermined spacing. Each of the first active material layers 34 is opposed and corresponding to one of the second active material layers 35 respectively. Each of the separators 31 is sandwiched between one of the first active material layer 34 and the corresponding second active material layer 35 to form one electrochemical system 301. The separator 31 may be a porous lamination formed by polymers or the glass fibers, or the separator 31 may be a ceramic separator, which is stacked or sintered by ceramic materials, with pores to permit ion migrations. The pores are through holes or ant holes, i.e. non-straight through holes. Moreover, the separator 31 may be the porous lamination with a ceramic particles reinforcing layer, or a separator mixing with ceramic particles and ion-conductive polymers. The size of the ceramic particles are nanometer scale, micrometer scale or mixing with at least two larger different scale, such as mixing with nanometer scale and micrometer scale. The material of the ceramic particles is TiO2, Al2O3, SiO2, alkylated ceramic particulates, or an oxide-based solid electrolyte, such as LLZO (lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide, Li7La3Zr2O12) or LATP(Li1+xAlxTi2−x(PO4)3). Further, the ceramic material may be mixed with the ceramic insulating materials and the oxide-based solid electrolyte. The separator 31, in case of being stacked by ceramic materials, may further include a polymer adhesive used to bind these ceramic particles. The polymer adhesive may be polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyvinylidene fluoride co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP), polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE), acrylic acid glue, epoxy resin, polyethylene oxide (PEO), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and polyimide (PI).
In this case, the above-mentioned predetermined spacing of the first active material layer 34 and the second active material layer 35 can be adjusted based on the requirement in practice. The widths of the first active material layer 34 and the second active material layer 35 may also be modified. Further, the distribution and arrangement of the predetermined spacing, the first active material layers 34 and the second active material layers 35 may be varied. These in the figures are used for illustrative purpose only, but not limited to these sizes.
The glue frame 36 is disposed to surround the electrochemical systems 301. The upper surface of the glue frame 36 is adhered to the first belt current collector 32, and the lower surface of the glue frame 36 is adhered to the second belt current collector 33. Therefore, all the electrochemical systems 301 are completely sealed by the glue frame 36, the first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33. The electrolyte system is impregnated or mixed in first active material layers 34 and the second active material layers 35. The electrolyte system is a gel electrolyte, a liquid electrolyte, a solid electrolyte or a combinations thereof. Therefore, by the active materials of first active material layers 34 and the second active material layers 35, the processes that the chemical energy is converted into electrical energy, i.e. discharging, and the electrical energy is converted into chemical energy, i.e. charging, are carried out. The ion migration and transport are achieved. The electric charges are transmitted via the first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33. Therefore, all the electrochemical systems 301 are completely sealed. The electrolyte system only circulates within respective electrochemical systems 301 and do not share between any two electrochemical systems 301. Only the charge transfer occurs between adjacent two of the electrochemical systems 301. There do not have any electrochemical reactions occurred between any two electrochemical systems 301. An example embodiment of the manufacturing method for the glue frame 36 is described below. The glue frames 36 are coated on the first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33 respectively. Then, the first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33 are adhered to each other by the hot pressing process. Also, the glue frames 36 may be coated only on either the first belt current collector 32 or the second belt current collector 33.
The materials of the glue frame 36 include the epoxy, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), thermoplastic polyimide (TPI), silicone, acrylic resin and/or ultraviolet light curing adhesive. To enhance adhesion of the glue frames 36, in case of the silicone is utilized, the glue frames 36 may include two modified silicone layers 362, 363 and a silicone layer 364 disposed between the two modified silicone layers 362, 363, please see
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The electrochemical systems 301 of the electrode assembly are folded to be vertically stacked in a zigzag shape, please see
For the bending process, please refer to
Moreover, the first active material layers 34 and the second active material layers 35 would not be affected during bending, thus the damage to the first active material layers 34 and the second active material layers 35 is avoided. The first belt current collector 32 and the second belt current collector 33 are usually made of metal materials, which have good malleability. Also, the glue frame 36 may be made of a material with better flexibility, such as silicone. The bending process is easier to preform to achieve the electrode assembly 30 with vertical stacking of the electrochemical systems 301 in a zigzag shape.
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In practice, the electrode assembly 30 is packaged by a housing to form a battery device, as disclosed in the
Further, excepting for the leads 52, 53 being extended from the lateral sides perpendicular to the bending direction, the leads 52, 53 may be extended from the ends of electrode assembly 30, i.e. parallel to the bending direction of the electrochemical systems 301. Please refer to
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Accordingly, the invention provides an electrode assembly and its battery device thereof. The electrode assembly is formed by the electrochemical systems and the glue frame to be directly sandwiched between two belt current collectors. All the electrochemical systems are completely sealed by the glue frame and the two belt current collectors. All components of the electrochemical systems do not share between any two electrochemical systems. Therefore, the electrolyte system only circulates within respective electrochemical systems and do not share between any two electrochemical systems. Only the charge transfer occurs between adjacent two of the electrochemical systems. Moreover, the glue frame, which are located between any two adjacent electrochemical systems, together with the first belt current collector and the second belt current collector adhered by these portions of the glue frame are folded to form the bending portions. The electrochemical systems are folded to the adjacent electrochemical systems to form a vertical stacking in a zigzag shape. Therefore, it is easy to mass produce and the amount of the tabs configured to be connected in series or parallel is reduced. The energy density loss caused by space configuration are reduced. Also, due to the belt current collectors are belt-shaped, it is easy to mass produce the active material layers and the glue fame by patterned coating.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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110109696 | Mar 2021 | TW | national |
111100917 | Jan 2022 | TW | national |