# US 10,770,705 B2 · Olefin separator free Li-ion battery

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- Number: US 10,770,705 B2
- Document ID: US10770705B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/037,895
- Filed: 2018-07-17
- Published: 2019-02-21
- Granted: 2020-09-08
- Earliest claimed: 2017-08-17
- Assignees: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Applicants: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Inventors: Subramanya P. Herle
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10770705B2

## CPC

- H01M 10/058: Construction or manufacture
- C23C 14/0021: {Reactive sputtering or evaporation}
- C23C 14/081: {of aluminium, magnesium or beryllium}
- C23C 14/24: Vacuum evaporation
- C23C 14/28: by wave energy or particle radiation (C23C14/32 - C23C14/48 take precedence)
- C23C 14/30: by electron bombardment
- H01G 9/0029: {Processes of manufacture}
- H01G 9/02: Diaphragms; Separators
- H01G 9/04: Electrodes {or formation of dielectric layers thereon}
- H01G 11/52: Separators
- H01G 11/84: Processes for the manufacture of hybrid or EDL capacitors, or components thereof
- H01M 4/0423: {Physical vapour deposition}
- H01M 4/139: Processes of manufacture
- H01M 4/62: Selection of inactive substances as ingredients for active masses, e.g. binders, fillers
- H01M 10/0525: Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
- H01M 10/0585: of accumulators having only flat construction elements, i.e. flat positive electrodes, flat negative electrodes and flat separators
- H01M 50/403: Manufacturing processes of separators, membranes or diaphragms
- H01M 50/411: Organic material
- H01M 50/414: Synthetic resins, e.g. thermoplastics or thermosetting resins
- H01M 50/42: Acrylic resins
- H01M 50/426: Fluorocarbon polymers
- H01M 50/429: Natural polymers
- H01M 50/431: Inorganic material
- H01M 50/434: Ceramics
- H01M 50/449: having a layered structure
- H01M 50/451: comprising layers of only organic material and layers containing inorganic material
- H01M 50/457: comprising three or more layers
- H01M 50/46: Separators, membranes or diaphragms characterised by their combination with electrodes
- H01M 50/489: Separators, membranes, diaphragms or spacing elements inside the cells, characterised by their physical properties, e.g. swelling degree, hydrophilicity or shut down properties
- H01M 50/491: Porosity
- H01G 11/56: Solid electrolytes, e.g. gels; Additives therein
- H01M 2004/027: {Negative electrodes}
- Y02E 60/10: Energy storage using batteries
- Y02P 70/50: Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
- H01M: PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04)
- H01G: CAPACITORS; CAPACITORS, RECTIFIERS, DETECTORS, SWITCHING DEVICES, LIGHT-SENSITIVE OR TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE DEVICES OF THE ELECTROLYTIC TYPE (selection of specified materials as dielectric H01B3/00; capacitors having potential barriers H10D1/62, H10K10/10)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS

## Abstract

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to separators, high performance electrochemical devices, such as, batteries and capacitors, including the aforementioned separators, and methods for fabricating the same. In one implementation, a method of forming a separator for a battery is provided. The method comprises exposing a metallic material to be deposited on a surface of an electrode structure positioned in a processing region to an evaporation process. The method further comprises flowing a reactive gas into the processing region. The method further comprises reacting the reactive gas and the evaporated metallic material to deposit a ceramic separator layer on the surface of the electrode structure.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of forming a separator for a battery, comprising:
exposing a metallic material to be deposited on a surface of an electrode structure positioned in a processing region to an evaporation process to form an evaporated metallic material;
flowing a reactive gas into the processing region, comprising:
exposing oxygen to water vapor to form moist oxygen; and
introducing the moist oxygen into the processing region; and
reacting the reactive gas and the evaporated metallic material to deposit a ceramic separator layer on the surface of the electrode structure.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the metallic material is selected from the group consisting of: aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), indium (In), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), nickel (Ni), tin (Sn), ytterbium (Yb), or combinations thereof.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the ceramic separator layer is an aluminum hydroxide oxide layer.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the evaporation process is a thermal evaporation process or an electron beam evaporation process.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the evaporation process comprises exposing the metallic material to a temperature of between 1,300 degrees Celsius and 1,600 degrees Celsius.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the ceramic separator layer is a binder-free ceramic layer.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the ceramic separator layer has a thickness in the range of 1 nanometer to 3,000 nanometers.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the ceramic separator layer has a thickness in the range of 10 nanometers to 500 nanometers.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the ceramic separator layer comprises boehmite.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
depositing a ceramic edge coating on an edge of the electrode structure using a wet coating technique.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein depositing the ceramic edge coating occurs prior to exposing the metallic material to be deposited on the surface of the electrode structure.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein depositing the ceramic edge coating occurs after depositing the ceramic separator layer on the surface of the electrode structure.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the electrode structure is a negative electrode.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the electrode structure is a positive electrode.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising depositing a gel polymer layer on the ceramic separator layer.

### Claim 16

A method of forming a battery, comprising:
depositing a ceramic separator layer on a surface of a negative electrode structure, comprising:
exposing a metallic material to be deposited on the surface of the negative electrode structure positioned in a processing region to an evaporation process to form an evaporated metallic material;
flowing a reactive gas into the processing region, comprising:
exposing oxygen to water vapor to form moist oxygen; and
introducing the moist oxygen into the processing region; and
reacting the reactive gas and the evaporated metallic material to deposit the ceramic separator layer on the surface of the negative electrode structure; and
joining the negative electrode structure with a positive electrode structure with the ceramic separator layer therebetween.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the ceramic separator layer is an aluminum hydroxide oxide layer.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the evaporation process is a thermal evaporation process or an electron beam evaporation process.

### Claim 19

A method of forming a battery, comprising:
depositing a ceramic separator layer on a surface of a positive electrode structure, comprising:
exposing a metallic material to be deposited on the surface of the positive electrode structure positioned in a processing region to an evaporation process to form an evaporated metallic material;
flowing a reactive gas into the processing region, comprising:
exposing oxygen to water vapor to form moist oxygen; and
introducing the moist oxygen into the processing region;
reacting the reactive gas and the evaporated metallic material to deposit the ceramic separator layer on the surface of the positive electrode structure; and
joining the positive electrode structure with a negative electrode structure with the ceramic separator layer therebetween.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the ceramic separator layer is an aluminum hydroxide oxide layer.