Rechargeable battery with shutdown layer comprising a low melting point material and an electrically conductive material
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsVenkataramani Anandan, Andrew Robert Drews
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In at least one embodiment, a battery is provided comprising an anode and cathode, a separator between the anode and cathode, and a shutdown layer between the separator and the anode or cathode. The shutdown layer may include low melting point material and a conductive material within the low melting point material forming a conductive network within the shutdown layer. At a melting point temperature of the low melting point material, the conductive network is reduced such that at least a portion of the shutdown layer is substantially electrically non-conductive. The shutdown layer may be a free-standing layer or may be coated one or both of the electrodes.
Claims20
A lithium-ion battery comprising:
- an anode and cathode;
- a separator between the anode and cathode;
- and
- a shutdown layer between the separator and the anode or cathode, including a wax material and an electrically conductive material within the wax material and forming a conductive network within the shutdown layer, at a wax material melting point temperature, the conductive network is reduced such that at least a portion of the shutdown layer is substantially electrically non-conductive.
A method of forming a lithium-ion battery including a shutdown layer, the method comprising:
- preparing a mixture of a wax material and a plurality of electrically conductive particles;
- coating the mixture onto a battery anode or cathode;
- drying the mixture to obtain a dried mixture including a conductive network within the wax material to obtain a shutdown layer in which at a melting point temperature of the wax material, the conductive network is reduced such that at least a portion of the shutdown layer is substantially electrically non-conductive;
- and
- forming a lithium-ion battery including an anode and a cathode, a separator between the anode and the cathode, and the shutdown layer between the separator and the anode or the cathode.
A lithium-ion battery comprising:
- an anode;
- a cathode;
- a separator between the anode and cathode;
- and
- a shutdown layer between the separator and the anode or the cathode and consisting essentially of a low melting point (LMP) material having a melting temperature between 60° C. and 200° C. and an electrically conductive material distributed throughout the LMP material and forming a conductive network within the shutdown layer;
- and at a melting point temperature of the LMP material, the conductive network is reduced such that at least a portion of the shutdown layer is substantially electrically non-conductive.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.