U.S. patent application number 17/697375 was filed with the patent office on 2022-06-30 for systems and methods for electrical energy storage.
The applicant listed for this patent is Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. Invention is credited to Juergen BIENER, Patrick CAMPBELL, Eric DUOSS, Julie A. JACKSON, Matthew MERRILL, Jayathi MURTHY, Geoffrey M. OXBERRY, Christopher SPADACCINI, Michael STADERMANN, Bradley TREMBACKI, Cheng ZHU.
Application Number | 20220209277 17/697375 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-06-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220209277 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
DUOSS; Eric ; et
al. |
June 30, 2022 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to an electrical energy storage
apparatus. The apparatus has an interpenetrating, three dimensional
periodic structure formed from an ionically conductive solid
electrolyte material having a plurality of interpenetrating,
non-planar channels. The interpenetrating, non-planar channels are
made up of a first plurality of channels filled with an anode
material, a second plurality of channels adjacent the first
plurality of channels and interpenetrating with the first plurality
of channels, and filled with a cathode material, and a third
plurality of channels adjacent to, and interpenetrating with, one
of the first and second pluralities of channels, and filled with a
material to form a separator. The first, second and third channels
form a spatially dense, three dimensional structure. A first
non-flat current collector layer is incorporated which is in
communication with the first plurality of channels, and which forms
a first electrode. A second non-flat current collector layer is
incorporated which is in communication with the second non-planar
channel, and which forms a second electrode.
Inventors: |
DUOSS; Eric; (Danville,
CA) ; BIENER; Juergen; (San Leandro, CA) ;
CAMPBELL; Patrick; (Oakland, CA) ; JACKSON; Julie
A.; (Livermore, CA) ; OXBERRY; Geoffrey M.;
(Pleasanton, CA) ; SPADACCINI; Christopher;
(Oakland, CA) ; STADERMANN; Michael; (Pleasanton,
CA) ; ZHU; Cheng; (Livermore, CA) ; TREMBACKI;
Bradley; (Austin, TX) ; MURTHY; Jayathi;
(Austin, TX) ; MERRILL; Matthew; (Charlottesville,
VA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC
Board of Regents, The University of Texas System |
Livermore
Austin |
CA
TX |
US
US |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
17/697375 |
Filed: |
March 17, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14947620 |
Nov 20, 2015 |
11309574 |
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17697375 |
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International
Class: |
H01M 10/02 20060101
H01M010/02; B33Y 80/00 20060101 B33Y080/00; H01M 4/02 20060101
H01M004/02; H01M 10/04 20060101 H01M010/04; H01G 11/52 20060101
H01G011/52; H01G 11/26 20060101 H01G011/26; H01G 11/28 20060101
H01G011/28 |
Goverment Interests
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] This invention was made with Government support under
Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 awarded by the United States
Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in the
invention.
Claims
1. An electrical energy storage apparatus, comprising: an
interpenetrating, three dimensional structure formed from an
ionically conductive solid electrolyte material having a plurality
of interpenetrating, non-planar channels, the interpenetrating,
non-planar channels including: a first plurality of channels filled
with an anode material; a second plurality of channels adjacent the
first plurality of channels and interpenetrating the first
plurality of channels, and filled with a cathode material; a third
plurality of channels adjacent, and interpenetrating, one of the
first and second pluralities of channels and filled with a material
to form a separator; and said first, second and third channels
forming a spatially dense, three dimensional structure; a first
non-flat current collector layer in communication with the first
plurality of channels, and forming a first electrode; and a second
non-flat current collector layer in communication with the second
non-planar channel and forming a second electrode.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the anode material includes an
electrically conductive filler material to improve electrical
conductivity of the anode material.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cathode material includes
an electrically conductive filler material to improve electrical
conductivity of the cathode material.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the three dimensional periodic
structure comprises one of: a gyroid; a double gyroid; a Schwartz
surface; kelvin foam; octet truss, and a kagome lattice; a Neovius
surface; an N14 Surface; an N26 Surface; an N38 Surface; a Diamond
surface; and a Double Diamond surface.
5. An electrical energy storage apparatus, comprising: an
interpenetrating, three dimensional periodic structure formed from
an ionically conductive solid electrolyte material having a
plurality of interpenetrating, non-planar channels, the plurality
of interpenetrating, non-planar channels including: a first
plurality of channels of an anode material; a second plurality of
channels adjacent the first plurality of channels and
interpenetrating the first plurality of channels, and being of a
cathode material; a third plurality of channels adjacent, and
interpenetrating, one of the first and second pluralities of
channels and being of a material to form a separator; and a first
current collector layer in communication with the first plurality
of channels, and forming a first electrode; a second current
collector layer in communication with the second non-planar channel
and forming a second electrode; and wherein the interpenetrating,
three dimensional periodic structure comprises one of: a gyroid; a
double gyroid; a Schwartz surface; kelvin foam; octet truss; a
kagome lattice; a Neovius surface; an N14 Surface; an N26 Surface;
an N38 Surface; a Diamond surface; and a Double Diamond
surface.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein each one of the first
plurality of channels is filled with the anode material.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the anode material includes an
electrically conductive filler material to improve electrical
conductivity of the anode material.
8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein each one of the second
plurality of channels is filled with the cathode material.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the cathode material includes
an electrically conductive filler material to improve electrical
conductivity of the cathode material.
10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first current collector
layer comprises a non-flat current collector layer.
11. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second current collector
layer comprises a non-flat current collector layer.
12. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the interpenetrating, three
dimensional periodic structure is formed using an additive
manufacturing process.
13. A method for forming an electrical energy storage apparatus
configured as a three dimensional structure, the method comprising:
forming an interpenetrating, three dimensional periodic structure
having a first plurality of non-planar channels and a second
plurality of non-planar channels in proximity to the first
plurality of non-planar channels, the first and second pluralities
of non-planar channels further being interpenetrating; filling each
one of the first plurality of non-planar channels with an anode
material to form an anode; filling each one of the second plurality
of non-planar channels with a cathode material to form a cathode;
filling areas adjacent the first and second pluralities of
non-planar channels with an electrolyte; forming a first electrode
to operate as a current collector, which is in electrical contact
with portions of the anode material; and forming a second electrode
which is in electrical contact with portions of the cathode
material.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising adding electrically
conductive filler material to the anode material before filling the
first plurality of non-planar channels.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising adding electrically
conductive filler material to the cathode material before filling
the second plurality of non-planar channels.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the method forms an electrical
energy storage device having at least one of the following
configurations: a gyroid; a double gyroid; a Schwartz surface;
kelvin foam; an octet truss; a kagome lattice; a Neovius surface;
an N14 Surface; an N26 Surface; an N38 Surface; a Diamond surface;
and a Double Diamond surface.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein the operation of forming the
interpenetrating three dimensional structure comprises using a
three dimensional printing process.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein the first electrode is formed
by a first current collector layer of material, the first current
collector layer of material being formed as a non-flat layer of
material in interpenetrating engagement with the anode
material.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein the second electrode is formed
by a second current collector layer of material, the second current
collector layer of material being formed as a non-flat layer of
material in interpenetrating engagement with the cathode material.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional and claims priority of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 14/947,620 filed on Nov. 20, 2015. The
entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein
by reference.
FIELD
[0003] The present disclosure relates to energy storage devices,
and more particularly to highly penetrating, high surface area,
three-dimensional structures for electrical energy storage.
BACKGROUND
[0004] The statements in this section merely provide background
information related to the present disclosure and may not
constitute prior art.
[0005] Over the past fifteen years or so, the proliferation of
mobile electronics and electric vehicles has created an increasing
demand for high-performance batteries that are lighter and store
more energy on a single charge. Most improvements in battery
technology have focused on achieving these objectives by developing
new and better materials for the five main components of the
battery: anode, cathode, conductive filler, electrolyte, and (if
necessary) the separator. However, these previous efforts at
improving battery technology have generally focused more on the
materials used for the battery, but have largely ignored exploring
the geometrical arrangement or internal "shape" or topology of a
battery for the purpose of obtaining improvements in battery
performance. There is also increasing interest in designing optimal
internal micro or nanoscale structure for a macroscale object
shape.
[0006] It will also be understood that conventional battery designs
are generally planar. With a generally planar construction, the
anode, separator and cathode of the battery are stacked on top of
one another. These layers are then generally packaged in a planar
form factor. Alternatively, these layers may be rolled up like a
jelly roll and packaged into a cylindrical form factor.
[0007] Researchers have recently manufactured electrodes (i.e.,
anodes and cathodes) using geometries such as interdigitating combs
or interdigitating posts. However, these efforts have not generally
explored the possibility of increasing the performance of a battery
by tailoring or controlling its physical geometry.
[0008] Some efforts have been made with regard to battery
architecture, particularly involving designs using gyroid-like
structures. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0147747 discusses the
construction of microbatteries using porous electrode
architectures. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0050988 discusses
the use of gyroid structures (not any other minimal or triply
periodic surfaces) specifically to form a charge collector. The
charge collector is also known as a "current collector." This is
the structure used to provide a path for electric current to or
from the battery electrodes (anode and cathode).
SUMMARY
[0009] This section provides a general summary of the disclosure,
and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of
its features.
[0010] In one aspect the present disclosure relates to an
electrical energy storage apparatus. The apparatus comprises an
interpenetrating, three dimensional structure formed from an
ionically conductive solid electrolyte material having a plurality
of interpenetrating, non-planar channels. The interpenetrating,
non-planar channels include a first plurality of channels filled
with an anode material, a second plurality of channels adjacent the
first plurality of channels and interpenetrating the first
plurality of channels, and filled with a cathode material, and a
third plurality of channels adjacent to, and interpenetrating with,
one of the first and second pluralities of channels, and filled
with a material to form a separator. The first, second and third
channels form a spatially dense, three dimensional structure. A
first non-flat current collector layer is incorporated which is in
communication with the first plurality of channels, and which forms
a first electrode. A second non-flat current collector layer is
incorporated which is in communication with the second non-planar
channel, and which forms a second electrode.
[0011] In another aspect the present disclosure relates to an
electrical energy storage apparatus. The apparatus comprises an
interpenetrating, three dimensional periodic structure formed from
an ionically conductive solid electrolyte material having a
plurality of interpenetrating, non-planar channels. The
interpenetrating, non-planar channels include a first plurality of
channels of an anode material, a second plurality of channels
adjacent the first plurality of channels and interpenetrating with
the first plurality of channels, and being of a cathode material,
and a third plurality of channels adjacent to, and interpenetrating
with, one of the first and second pluralities of channels, and
being of a material to form a separator. A first current collector
layer is incorporated which is in communication with the first
plurality of channels, and which forms a first electrode. A second
current collector layer is incorporated which is in communication
with the second non-planar channel, and which forms a second
electrode. The interpenetrating, three dimensional periodic
structure further comprises one of: a gyroid; a double gyroid; a
Schwartz surface; kelvin foam; an octet truss, a kagome lattice; a
Neovius surface; an N14 Surface; an N26 Surface; an N38 Surface; a
Diamond surface; and a Double Diamond surface.
[0012] In still another aspect the present disclosure relates to a
method for forming an electrical energy storage apparatus
configured as a three dimensional structure. The method comprises
forming an interpenetrating, three dimensional periodic structure
having a first plurality of non-planar channels and a second
plurality of non-planar channels in proximity to the first
plurality of non-planar channels. The first and second pluralities
of non-planar channels are further formed to be interpenetrating.
The method further includes filling each one of the first plurality
of non-planar channels with an anode material to form an anode,
filling each one of the second plurality of non-planar channels
with a cathode material to form a cathode, and filling areas
adjacent to the first and second pluralities of non-planar channels
with an electrolyte. The method further includes forming a first
electrode to operate as a current collector, which is in electrical
contact with portions of the anode material, and which forms a
second electrode which is in electrical contact with portions of
the cathode material.
[0013] Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the
description provided herein. It should be understood that the
description and specific examples are intended for purposes of
illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the
present disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes
only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present
disclosure in any way.
[0015] FIG. 1 is a high level perspective view of a portion of a
structure forming a 3D, periodic, energy storage device with
interpenetrating wall portions, and where the 3D structure takes
the form of a gyroid;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a portion of one of the
material layers of the 3D structure of FIG. 1 taken in accordance
with section line 2-2 in FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a highly simplified view of a portion of a 3D
solid electrolyte structure, made with a 3D printing process,
having interpenetrating channels formed therein which are filled
with anode and cathode materials;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a simplified illustration of a Schwartz P surface
that may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a simplified illustration of a Schwartz D surface
that may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a simplified illustration of a Neovius surface
that may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 7 is a simplified illustration of a N14 Surface that
may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 8 is a simplified illustration of a N26 Surface that
may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 9 is a simplified illustration of a N38 Surface that
may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 10 is a simplified illustration of a Diamond surface
that may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0025] FIG. 11 is a simplified illustration of a Double Diamond
surface that may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus
in accordance with the present disclosure; and
[0026] FIG. 12 is a simplified illustration of a Kagome lattice
that may be used to construct a 3D energy storage apparatus in
accordance with the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] The following description is merely exemplary in nature and
is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or
uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings,
corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding
parts and features.
[0028] The various embodiments of the present disclosure generally
relate to a class of microscale or nanoscale designs for
three-dimensional, ("3D") structures. In one example the 3D
structure is an electrical energy storage device, as will be
described in detail herein. The 3D structure may be periodic or
aperiodic. It may be ordered or disordered, but an important
feature is that it is interpenetrating and 3D for all of the
materials being used to form the structure. It could be graded
density and feature sizes could change throughout the structure. As
will become more apparent from the following discussion of a 3D
energy storage device, as feature size decreases, the surface area
increases and transport distances are reduced.
[0029] The 3D architectures disclosed herein are especially well
suited for batteries where the anode, cathode, separator,
electrolyte, and/or current collector are patterned into highly
interpenetrating but discrete phases that have high surface areas
and small transport distances while maximizing the amount of active
material (i.e., anode or cathode) that can be packed into a given
volume. The various embodiments disclosed herein have greater
areal, volumetric, or gravimetric power density for a given energy
density (or power density) compared to conventional battery designs
based on planar layouts such as flat plates, jelly roll layouts,
etc., or interdigitated geometries such as combs and posts. The
power density may be limited by mass transport. The energy density
is given by the nature and the packing density of the active
material. As a result, for a given power load, the architectures
disclosed herein may be used to manufacture batteries that last
longer.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a simplified
representation of a 3D energy storage apparatus 10 (hereinafter
simply "3D structure 10") having interpenetrating layer portions
that forms an electrical energy storage device. In this example the
structure 10 takes the form of a gyroid, although it will be
appreciated from the following discussion that a wide plurality of
other 3D structures with interpenetrating walls or surface portions
may be substituted for a gyroid. However, it will be appreciated
that the anode, cathode, separator/electrolyte, and current
collectors may or may not have all the same shape.
[0031] The 3D structure 10 of FIG. 1 includes 3D surface wall
portions 12 which are formed relative to one another to be
interpenetrating. By "interpenetrating" it is meant that one wall
portion 12 cannot be disengaged from the other by any combination
of translations or rotations. That is, in order to separate the two
wall portions, which are not connected, one of the wall portions
must be cut. Another example of an interpenetrating structure would
be two links of a chain.
[0032] A small cross-sectional section 14 of just a portion of one
of the surface wall portions 12 is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2,
surface wall portion 12 may be formed to include an anode material
layer 16, a separator material layer 18 and a cathode material
layer 20. The interpenetrating nature of the wall portions 12 can
be noted, for example, at area 22. It should be noted that it is
impossible to go from anode material layer 16 to cathode material
layer 20 without penetrating the separator material layer 18 (FIG.
2).
[0033] With further reference to FIG. 1, portions of all of the
anode material layers 16 may be connected by an electrically
conductive material layer or sheet 24. Portions of all of the
cathode material layers 20 may be connected by a separate
electrically conductive material layer or sheet 26. Material sheets
24 and 26 form current collectors, also sometimes referred to as
electrodes. The material sheets 24 and 26 have portions (not shown)
where power connections can be made to some external device to
allow stored electrical power from the 3D structure 10 to be used
to power the external device. It will be understood that no portion
of electrically conductive material sheet 24 contacts any of the
cathode material layers 20, and no portion of the material sheet 26
contacts any portion of the anode material layers 16. These can be
separated by a solid separator electrolyte or by a gap or void that
is filled with liquid electrolyte. Liquid electrolytes are actually
faster due to diffusion. In either event, when an electrolyte is
used to fill areas 28, this places the electrolyte in contact with
all of the anode material layers 16 and all of the cathode material
layers 20, thus filling all of the voids within the 3D structure
10.
[0034] The 3D surfaces used for patterning may be parametric. For a
gyroid, for instance, boundaries of three-dimensional gyroid
structures can be defined by the equations:
[0035]
sin(2*pi*x/L)*cos(2*pi*y/L)+sin(2*pi*y/L)*cos(2*pi*z/L)+sin(2*pi*z/-
L)*cos(2*pi*x/L)=+t/2 and
sin(2*pi*x/L)*cos(2*pi*y/L)+sin(2*pi*y/L)*cos(2*pi*z/L)+sin(2*pi*z/L)*cos-
(2*pi*x/L)=-t/2 [6], so that the thickness of the gyroid is the
parameter "t" and its period (i.e., the length of a unit cell) is
"L".
[0036] Controlling the thickness of the surface wall portions 12
tunes ion transport properties so that active material is depleted
from the anode material layer 16 evenly. Consequently, for
different active materials, the thickness of the surface(s) used in
the design may change. In general, thinner is better. Ideally, the
active materials should have a nanoscale thickness.
[0037] It is also expected that manufacturability constraints are
likely to also place constraints on the thickness of the surface,
as well as its unit cell length.
[0038] A 3D electrical energy storage structure such as 3D
structure 10 in FIG. 1 may be manufactured using present day 3D
printing or 3D fabrication processes. If manufactured using a well
known 3D printing process, then the 3D structure 10 will be
manufactured as a series of discrete layers successively formed one
on top of another. In this fashion the channels necessary to form
the anode layer, the cathode layer, and any other material layers
(e.g., separator layer) would be formed substantially
simultaneously as each layer is printed when the different types of
material are deposited by different print heads of a 3D printing
system.
[0039] FIG. 3 shows one high level example of how the charge
collectors may be formed with an interpenetrating construction. In
this example the wall portion 12' has charge collectors 24' and 26'
disposed in interpenetrating fashion on opposite surfaces of the
separator layer 18. Charge collector 24' is disposed in
interpenetrating fashion with anode material layer 16 and charge
collector 26' is disposed in interpenetrating fashion with cathode
material layer 20. Such a construction minimizes electrical
transport distances to the charge collector layers 24' and 26'.
[0040] In one example, the 3D structure 10 may be comprised of an
ionically conductive solid electrolyte using, for example,
projection microstereolithography. The electrically conductive
solid electrolyte has discrete, interpenetrating channels formed in
it during the 3D printing process. The channels may be linear, but
it will be appreciated that the channels will be non-linear for a
3D gyroid structure or most other 3D periodic or aperiodic
structures. All the materials could be directly printed, and it is
expected that this is likely to be a preferred implementation.
[0041] Subsequently, each of the channels 32 and 34 may be
in-filled with active materials. For example, anode material may be
filled into channel 32 and cathode material may be filled into
channel 34. Each of the active materials preferably has some
conductive filler loaded into it before it is deposited in its
respective channel 32 or 34 to improve the electrical conductivity
of its associated anode or cathode material. Such conductive filler
material may be Graphene, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), copper particles
or wires, aluminum particles or wires, or carbon black. Again, a
principal objective is to create a nonplanar current collector that
is continuous and creates short electronic transport distances.
Next, each anode and cathode material has portions thereof attached
to a respective current collector using a conductive epoxy, such as
was described in connection with material sheets 24 and 26 (i.e.,
current collectors) in FIG. 1. An additional channel, represented
by dashed line 36, may be formed in the solid electrolyte 30 for
the separator as well. The completed structure forms a battery
which can then be tested. Ultimately, it is expected to be
advantageous, from a manufacturing/cost standpoint, to directly
pattern all of the current collector, active materials, conductive
fillers, and separator/electrolyte directly with a 3D fabrication
process.
[0042] Aside from tuning parameters in the 3D structures used in
the design, these designs can be used with any combination of
anode, cathode, electrolyte, separator, and current collector
materials that are normally used in conventional battery designs.
These 3D energy storage structures of the present disclosure are
expected to be useful in both primary and secondary batteries, and
could be applied in the construction of batteries for use in any
application where power or energy density is a concern, either in
terms of battery lifetime or energy storage capability on a single
charge. Single charge storage capability is especially important
for batteries used with mobile devices such as smartphones,
tablets, laptops, MP3 players, gaming devices, GPS units, portable
radios, power tools, home energy storage devices, grid storage
devices or systems, or portable water purification units, just to
name a few potential applications. The teachings provided herein
are also expected to be important in helping to make batteries
lighter for a given storage capacity, as compared to conventional
battery designs. Minimizing the weight of the battery for a given
level of power density is also expected to be especially important
with applications involving many of the above listed devices, as
well as with applications involving battery powered automotive
vehicles, battery backup systems for use on aircraft, or even
remotely controlled drones.
[0043] The present disclosure, in certain embodiments, makes use of
geometries derived from triply periodic structures such as gyroids
and Schwarz minimal surfaces, or other interpenetrating 3D
structures, to achieve a significant improvement in power density
over the previous conventional geometries at the same energy
density and comparable feature (i.e., material thickness) sizes. A
small number of examples of various types of periodic, 3D
structures which may be used to form the 3D structure 10 are
illustrated in FIGS. 4-12, which show a Schwartz P surface (FIG.
4), a Schwartz D surface (FIG. 5), a Neovius surface (FIG. 6), a
N14 Surface (FIG. 7), a N26 Surface (FIG. 8), a N38 Surface (FIG.
9), a Diamond surface (FIG. 10), a Double Diamond surface (FIG.
11), and a Kagome lattice (FIG. 12). The present disclosure may
make use of any of the foregoing surfaces discussed herein or
virtually any other surface provided at the following link:
[0044]
http:www.susqu.edu/brake/evolver/examples/periodic/periodic.html.
[0045] The precise surface configuration could also be derived
using shape or topology optimization to yield many different
structures.
[0046] The various designs proposed in the present disclosure can
be combined with improved battery materials to yield even further
gains in battery performance over conventional designs using
existing materials. It is expected that changes in material
properties will affect the parameters determining the size and
shape of the surfaces, but will not affect substantially the
performance improvements obtained by using interpenetrating,
periodic, 3D designs instead of conventional planar-based battery
designs. It will be appreciated that interpenetration is a key
feature, and it is desirable to maximize surface area without
sacrificing active material.
[0047] The architectures of the present disclosure are expected to
have particular utility with applications requiring portable power
sources such as mobile phones, computing tablets and other portable
electronic devices. The embodiments disclosed herein are also able
to be charged more rapidly for a given level of energy than
conventional batteries. The designs and teachings described herein
may account for different capacities of the active materials. The
designs and configurations discussed herein may also have different
sizes and shape and amounts of active materials to boost overall
battery capacity and efficiency.
[0048] The 3D energy storage architectures disclosed herein can
also yield lighter or smaller batteries for a given quantity of
energy storage, as compared to conventional planar or jelly roll
layouts. This makes the various embodiments of the present
disclosure especially valuable where weight is an important
concern, such as with electronic devices used in military
applications or with remotely controlled, battery powered land and
air vehicles such as drones.
[0049] While various embodiments have been described, those skilled
in the art will recognize modifications or variations which might
be made without departing from the present disclosure. The examples
illustrate the various embodiments and are not intended to limit
the present disclosure. Therefore, the description and claims
should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is
necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.
* * * * *