Patent Application
20150125732
The present invention relates to a positive electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte battery such as a lithium-ion secondary battery and a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery using the positive electrode.
In a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery such as a lithium ion secondary battery, positive and negative electrodes are laminated through separators. Thus, in order to prevent short circuit due to contact between positive and negative electrodes at an end portion of one electrode, an insulating layer is formed at the end portion of the one electrode. However, the number of mass transfer paths between the positive and negative electrodes is reduced upon charging and discharging by the insulating layer formed for the purpose of preventing the short circuit, resulting in a decrease in charge and discharge capacity.
Under such a circumstance, there have been made some proposals to realize the prevention of the short circuit without involving the decrease in charge and discharge capacity.
For example, there is proposed a configuration in which an insulating layer having a through hole, i.e., an insulating tape or an insulating coating is formed at a portion on a protrusion formed at each of both length direction end portions of an electrode formed on a band-shaped collector for use in a winding type battery. This has been proposed to realize mass transfer through the through hole so as to prevent a decrease in charge and discharge capacity (refer to, e.g., Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] JP 2006-40878A
When the insulating tape having a through hole is attached to the portion on the protrusion of an electrode active material layer as described in Patent Document 1 in order to realize the internal short circuit without involving the decrease in charging and discharging capacity, the insulating tape has a configuration in which all portions thereof are integrally formed excluding the through hole. The insulating tape or insulating layer having such a through hole has the following problem when used for the purpose of effective use of the electrode active material layer upon charging and discharging of the battery.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a positive electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte battery including: a positive electrode collector; a coated film of a positive electrode active material formed on the collector; an non-uniform area formed along an end portion of the coated film, in which a thickness of the positive active material changes; and protruding insulators erected on the non-uniform area and a part of a surface of the collector adjacent to the non-uniform area, wherein the protruding insulators erected on a surface of the non-uniform area are mutually independent and disposed at an arrangement density low enough to allow transfer of a battery reactive material through the surface of the non-uniform area, and the protruding insulators erected on a part of the surface of the collector are disposed at an arrangement density higher than that of the protruding insulators erected on a surface of the non-uniform area.
The protruding insulators are formed on the surface of the non-uniform area adjacent to a surface of a positive electrode lead tab.
The protruding insulators are formed in a dotted pattern or a band-like pattern.
The protruding insulators are formed by coating a curable composition using an inkjet coater.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having a configuration in which the positive electrode having any of the above features and a negative electrode having an area larger than that of the positive electrode are disposed opposite to each other through a separator.
The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is a lithium ion battery.
In the positive electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte battery according to the present invention, the protruding insulators are disposed as the insulating member on a part of the positive electrode lead tab with the arrangement density thereof changed, so that it is possible to prevent deformation of the insulating member due to a temperature change, prevent short circuit with the negative electrode, and further to realize mass transfer between the positive and negative electrodes through the protruding insulators, whereby a battery having high safety and high utilization efficiency of the active material can be provided.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present invention, descriptions will be given by taking a lithium ion secondary battery as an example. Further, in the present invention, an active material layer is provided on only one side of a collector to avoid complication of the figure; however, the present invention is not limited to a battery electrode in which the active material layer is formed on only one side of the collector, but the active material layers having the same configuration may be formed on both sides of the collector.
A positive electrode 100 of the present invention has a positive electrode active material layer 103 on a surface of a positive electrode collector 101. The positive electrode active material layer 103 is formed by coating, on the surface of the positive electrode collector 101, a slurry prepared by compounding lithium-transition metal compound oxide such as lithium-manganese composite oxide or lithium-cobalt composite oxide, a conductivity imparting agent, such as carbon black, a binder, and the like and then drying the slurry. A positive electrode lead tab 102 is formed integrally with the positive electrode collector 101.
The positive electrode active material layer 103 can be formed by coating the above slurry on the surface of the positive electrode collector 101 using a die coater. At this time, an incline 105 is generated at an end portion of the coating area as illustrated in
An insulating member 110 is disposed so as to extend, in a direction in which a thickness of the positive electrode active material layer becomes smaller, from a part of a surface of the non-uniform area 107 up to the positive electrode lead tab 102.
The insulating member 110 includes a low-density area 112 and a high-density area 115. The low-density area 112 is an area where low-density protruding insulators 111 arranged, at intervals from each other, on a surface of the non-uniform area 107. The high-density area 115 is an area where high-density protruding insulators 113 are arranged, at intervals smaller than those of the low-density protruding insulators 111, on the collector.
As described above, forming the low-density area 112 where an arrangement density of the protruding insulators is low from at least a part of the surface of the non-uniform area 107 to a surface of the collector 101 allows sufficient utilization of battery reaction at the non-uniform area. Further, forming the high-density area 115 where the protruding insulators are arranged at a high density on the collector surface that does not contribute to the battery reaction allows reliable prevention of the internal short circuit.
When the positive electrode active material layer 103 is formed on the positive electrode collector 101 by means of a coater, a slight displacement 111a inevitably occurs at the end portion of the coating area of the positive electrode active material layer 103.
Thus, by determining a width for forming the low-density area 112 in consideration of the displacement 111a, it is possible to form the low-density area 112 having a practical size.
Further, it is not always necessary to provide a clear boundary between the low-density area 112 and high-density area 115, and a configuration may be adopted, in which the arrangement density gradually increases from the low-density area 112 toward the high-density area 115.
A1, in which the arrangement density of the protruding insulators is low, illustrates the low-density protruding insulators, and A2 is a cross-sectional view of A1 taken along a line A-A′ which illustrates an example of round head-shaped insulators.
B1 is a view illustrating an example of the low-density protruding insulators which are linear shaped protrusion insulators arranged in parallel to each other.
C1 is a view illustrating the high-density protruding insulators which are round head-shaped insulators similar to those of A1 arranged at high density.
D1 illustrates the high-density protruding insulators, i.e., a large number of protruding insulators arranged at a high density. A suitable one can be selected from among the above examples depending on a size and the like of a battery to be produced.
The low-density protruding insulators arranged in the low-density area in the present invention each have a height of 5 μm to 100 μm, preferably 5 μm to 60 μm, more preferably 5 μm to 40 μm. A diameter of each protruding insulators is 50 μm to 600 μm, preferably 50 μm to 500 μm. Further, when the protruding insulators are projected to a rectangular area contacting end points of the protruding insulators, a ratio of the projected area relative to the rectangular area is 20% to 70%, preferably 30% to 60%.
The high-density protruding insulators arranged in the high-density area in the present invention each have a height of 5 μm to 100 μm, preferably 5 μm to 60 μm, more preferably 5 μm to 40 μm. A diameter of each protruding insulators is 50 μm to 600 μm, preferably 50 μm to 500 μm. Further, when the protruding insulators are projected to a rectangular area contacting end points of the protruding insulators, a ratio of the projected area relative to the rectangular area is 75% to 100%, preferably 80% to 100%.
Each protruding insulator is not limited to the round head shaped protruding insulator but may be formed into various shapes such as a conical shape and a columnar shape. Further, each protruding insulator preferably has a curved shape, such as a circular or ellipsoidal shape, in cross section perpendicular to a height direction. Further, each protruding insulator preferably has a rectangular shape or a shape surrounded by a left-right symmetric curve such as a parabola in cross section taken along a line parallel to the height direction and passing a center of the protruding insulator.
A curable composition is coated using an inkjet coater while moving the positive electrode web 108 in a travel direction 121, followed by curing, whereby the positive electrode web 108 can be produced. As the curable composition, a thermosetting composition, an ultraviolet curing composition, or the like can be used.
Further, the mutually independent protruding insulators are used in the low-density area, so that a positive electrode web less subject to deformation due to heat and capable of demonstrating excellent characteristics even when the thermosetting composition is used.
Then, punching is performed along a cut line 135 around each unit electrode and the center line 120, whereby the positive electrode illustrated in
As illustrated in
On the other hand, as illustrated in
The outer edge portion of the positive electrode active material layer on the positive electrode lead tab 102 of the positive electrode 100 is covered by the low-density protruding insulators 111 and high-density protruding insulators 113, so that even if the separator contracts, it is possible to prevent short circuit between the positive electrode lead tab 102 of the positive electrode 100 and the negative electrode 200 having an area larger than that of the positive electrode 100.
In the positive electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte battery according to the present invention, the insulating member including the plurality of protruding insulators is disposed on apart of the positive electrode lead tab as an insulating protective film, so that it is possible to prevent short circuit with the negative electrode, as well as to realize mass transfer between the positive and negative electrodes through the protruding insulators, whereby a battery having high safety and high utilization efficiency of the active material can be provided.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-120055 | May 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2013/064159 | 5/22/2013 | WO | 00 |
