US-12620570-B2 - Electronic circuits with directly integrated electrochemical cells

US12620570B2US 12620570 B2US12620570 B2US 12620570B2US-12620570-B2

Abstract

Provided are electronic circuits, comprising electrochemical cells directly integrated with other devices of the circuits, and methods of manufacturing these circuits. The direct integration occurs during cell manufacturing, which allows sharing components, reducing operation steps and failure points, and reducing cost and size of the circuits. For example, a portion of a cell enclosure may be formed by a circuit board, providing direct mechanical integration. More specifically, the cell is fabricated right on the circuit board. In the same or other examples, one or both cell current collectors extend outside of the cell boundary and used by other devices, providing direct electrical integration without a need for intermediate connections and eliminating additional failure points. Furthermore, printing one or more components of electrochemical cells, such as electrolytes and current collectors, allows achieving higher levels of mechanical and electrical integration that are generally not available in conventional cells.

Inventors

Jesse Smithyman
Konstantin Tikhonov
Christine Ho
Alexander Gurr

Assignees

CCL LABEL, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220812

Claims (20)

1 . An integrated electronic circuit comprising: a packaging layer; a patterned conductive layer, disposed on a packaging layer and comprising a positive current collector, a positive tab, and a connecting tab, wherein: the positive current collector is monolithic with the positive tab so that the positive current collector and the positive tab are formed in a common spatial plane, and the connecting tab is isolated from the positive current collector but aligned within the common spatial plane; an electrochemical cell, disposed on the packaging layer and comprising: a positive electrode disposed over the positive current collector, and a negative electrode comprising a negative current collector, an electrolyte layer interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode so each of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the electrolyte layer are formed as discrete layers parallel with the common spatial plane, and wherein: i) the positive electrode, the electrolyte layer, and the negative electrode are oriented in a laminar arrangement, each being parallel to the common spatial plane, and ii) the negative current collector at least partially overlaps and forms an electrical connection with the connecting tab of the patterned conductive layer; and a power-consumption device, disposed on the packaging layer with the connecting tab disposed directly on the power-consumption device so as to establish direct electrical connection therewith and wherein the positive current collector establishes separate electrical contact with the power-consumption device.
2 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the at least one of the positive current collector or the negative current collector is laminated to the packaging layer.
3 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the power-consumption device is electrically connected to the positive tab using a mechanical crimp.
4 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 3 , wherein the mechanical crimp protrudes through the packaging layer.
5 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 4 , wherein the mechanical crimp is a rivet comprising flanges outside and compressing a stack comprising the positive tab of the positive current collector and the packaging layer.
6 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 3 , wherein the mechanical crimp protrudes through the positive tab of the positive current collector.
7 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the device is stacked with a portion of the at least one of the positive electrode or the negative electrode.
8 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 7 , further comprising a connector seal, positioned over the portion of the device stacked with the portion of the at least one of the positive electrode or the negative electrode.
9 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the packaging layer comprises an opening at a location where the power-consumption device is electrically connected to the positive tab of the positive current collector.
10 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the connecting tab and to the positive tab of the positive current collector comprises an opening, coinciding with the opening in the packaging layer.
11 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the packaging layer is a flexible printed circuit board.
12 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte layer is printed.
13 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 12 , wherein the negative electrode comprises zinc.
14 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the positive electrode, the electrolyte layer, or the negative electrode comprises an ionic liquid.
15 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the positive electrode, the electrolyte layer, and the negative electrode comprises an ionic liquid.
16 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical cell is substantially free from organic solvents.
17 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the power-consumption device is selected from the group consisting of a sensor, a Bluetooth transmitter, a low power wide area network (LoRa) transmitter, and a narrow-band internet of things (NB-IoT) transmitter.
18 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a second packaging layer sealed over the packaging layer so as to enclose all of the electrochemical cell.
19 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the negative current collector is printed at least partially over the connecting tab of the patterned conductive layer.
20 . The integrated electronic circuit of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical cell surrounds the power-consumption device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/875,435, filed on 2020 May 15, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of US Provisional Patent Application 62/849,257, filed on 2019 May 17, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. BACKGROUND Various design aspects and techniques used for manufacturing of conventional electrochemical cells typically preclude direct integration of these electrochemical cells into circuits, powered by these electrochemical cells, as well as other components. Instead, this integration occurs in a separate process, i.e., after the electrochemical cells are fully manufactured. This conventional integration, which may also be referred to as a multi-stage integration, requires additional operations, components, and costs in comparison to the direct integration. For purposes of this disclosure, direct integration is defined as a process of integrating an electrochemical cell with a circuit device or other electrochemical cells during the manufacturing of the electrochemical cell and/or the circuit device. In other words, during the direct integration, the electrochemical cell and the circuit device are co-manufactured and may share at least one component, processing step, and the like. The overall integration of electrochemical cells into circuits may be conceptually divided into mechanical integration and electrical integration. The mechanical integration involves mechanically attaching an electrochemical cell (e.g., the enclosure of the electrochemical cell) to various structural circuit components of the circuit (e.g., a board). The electrical integration involves forming electrical connections between the electrical terminals of the electrochemical cell and the corresponding terminals of the circuit. Electrical terminals are also referred to as tabs. Conventional methods typically involve the fabrication of standalone electrochemical cells, followed by separate integration. Overall, conventional batteries are viewed as standalone devices that are later mechanically and electrically integrated into circuits. These independent manufacturing processes and post-manufacturing mechanical and electrical integrations are costly and time-consuming, requiring additional operations and components, which are often redundant (serve the same function) yet create additional failure points. What is needed are electronic circuits with directly integrated electrochemical cells and methods of manufacturing these electronic circuits. SUMMARY Provided are electronic circuits, comprising electrochemical cells directly integrated with other devices of the circuits, and methods of manufacturing these circuits. The direct integration occurs during cell manufacturing, which allows sharing of components, reducing operation steps and failure points, and reducing the cost and size of the circuits. For example, a portion of a cell enclosure may be formed by a circuit board, providing direct mechanical integration. More specifically, the cell is fabricated right on the circuit board. In the same or other examples, one or both cell current collectors extend outside of the cell boundary and are used by other devices, providing direct electrical integration without a need for intermediate connections and eliminating additional failure points. Furthermore, printing one or more components of electrochemical cells, such as electrolytes and current collectors, allows achieving higher levels of mechanical and electrical integration that are generally not available in conventional cells. In some examples, a directly integrated electronic circuit comprises a first packaging layer and an electrochemical cell, manufactured on and directly integrated to the first packaging layer and further comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode, an electrolyte layer, disposed and providing ionic communication between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a second packaging layer. This electrochemical cell may be referred to as a first electrochemical cell to differentiate from one or more other electrochemical cells, referenced below. The first packaging layer and the second packaging layer are sealed to each other and isolate the electrolyte layer, at least a portion of the positive electrode, and at least a portion of the negative electrode from an environment. The directly integrated electronic circuit further comprises a device, directly integrated into the first packaging layer and electrically connected to at least one of the positive electrode or the negative electrode over the first packaging layer. The electrochemical cell and the device are directly integrated by the first packaging layer during the manufacturing of at least one of the electrochemical cell and the device. In some examples, the device is a second electrochemical cell, comprising a second positive electrode, a s