Electrolyte membrane
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorsFang Dai, Mahmoud Abd Elhamid, Mei Cai, Anne M. Dailly, Robert M. Lapierre
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods of providing an electrolyte membrane for metal batteries are described. According to aspects of the disclosure, a method includes preparing a mixture including an electrolyte portion and a matrix precursor portion, forming an electrolyte membrane by initiating polymerization of the gel-forming precursor and the gel-forming initiator to thereby form a polymer matrix, and disposing the electrolyte membrane between an anode and a cathode. The matrix precursor portion includes a gel-forming precursor and a gel-forming initiator. The electrolyte portion is disposed substantially throughout the polymer matrix.
Claims18
A method comprising:
- preparing a mixture including:
- an electrolyte portion;
- a matrix precursor portion including a gel-forming precursor and a gel-forming initiator;
- and
- a self-healing portion including a self-healing precursor that is flowable and a self-healing initiator;
- applying the mixture to surfaces of a battery component;
- after applying, selectively polymerizing the mixture to form a self-healing gel-electrolyte membrane on less than all of the surfaces;
- wherein selectively polymerizing includes initiating polymerization of the gel-forming precursor and the gel-forming initiator to thereby form a polymer matrix, wherein the electrolyte portion and the self-healing portion are disposed substantially throughout the polymer matrix and the polymer matrix includes a plurality of gel-forming active sites;
- wherein the polymer matrix has a first edge and a second edge opposite the first edge, and further wherein the self-healing portion is non-uniformly distributed throughout the polymer matrix such that the self-healing portion is loaded more heavily towards the first edge and the second edge;
- and
- after selectively polymerizing, removing a remaining, unpolymerized portion of the mixture from the battery component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.