US-12626956-B2 - Method for manufacturing batteries and battery obtained by said method

US12626956B2US 12626956 B2US12626956 B2US 12626956B2US-12626956-B2

Abstract

Battery comprising at least one anode and at least one cathode, arranged on top of one another in an alternating manner, the battery comprising lateral edges and longitudinal edges, in which the anode comprises a current collector substrate, —at least one anode layer, and —optionally, a layer of an electrolyte material, and the cathode comprises: —a current collector substrate, at least one cathode layer, and —optionally a layer of an electrolyte material such that the battery comprises successively at least one anode layer, at least one layer of an electrolyte material and at least one cathode layer, characterized in that each anode and each cathode comprises a respective main body, separated from a respective secondary body by a space that is free of any electrode, electrolyte and/or current collector substrate material, the free space joining or extending between the opposite longitudinal edges of the battery.

Inventors

Fabien Gaben
Frédéric Cantin

Assignees

I-TEN

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20191224
Priority Date: 20181224

Claims (15)

1 . A battery comprising at least one anode and at least one cathode, arranged on top of one another in an alternating manner, said battery comprising lateral edges comprising an anode connection area and a cathode connection area, laterally opposite the anode connection area, and longitudinal edges, wherein the lateral edges and the longitudinal edges of the battery enclose the at least one anode and the at least one cathode, in which the anode comprises a current collector substrate and at least one anode layer, and the cathode comprises: a current collector substrate and at least one cathode layer, at least one of the anode and of the cathode comprising a layer of an electrolyte material or of a separator impregnated with an electrolyte, so that the battery comprises successively at least one anode layer, at least one layer of an electrolyte material or of a separator impregnated with an electrolyte, and the at least one cathode layer, characterized in that each anode and each cathode comprises a respective main body and a respective secondary body, the main body of the cathode being in contact with the lateral edge comprising the cathode connection area and the secondary body being in contact with the lateral edge comprising the anode contact area, the main body of the cathode being electrically insulated from the secondary body of the cathode by a free space being free from any electrode material and current-collector substrate extending between the opposite longitudinal edges of the battery, and the main body of the anode being in contact with the lateral edge comprising the anode connection area and the secondary body being in contact with the lateral edge comprising the cathode contact area, the main body of the anode being electrically insulated from the secondary body of the anode by a free space being free from any electrode material and current-collector substrate extending between the opposite longitudinal edges of the battery.
2 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that, in plan view, the free spaces of the cathodes are superimposed.
3 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that, in plan view, the free spaces of the anodes are superimposed.
4 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that, in plan view, the free spaces of the cathodes and of the anodes are not coincident.
5 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that free faces of the secondary bodies respectively of the cathodes and of the anodes, which are opposite to the free space, fit flush with the free faces of the main body respectively of the anodes and of the cathodes.
6 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises an encapsulation system totally covering four of the six faces of said battery, the remaining two faces comprising an anode connection area and a cathode connection area.
7 . The battery according to claim 6 , characterized in that the encapsulation system comprises: at least one first covering layer deposited on the battery, and at least one second covering layer composed of an electrically insulating material, deposited by deposition of atomic layers on said at least one first covering layer, on the understanding that this sequence of at least one first covering layer and of at least one second covering layer may be repeated z times with z>1.
8 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that the anode connection area and the cathode connection area are covered by a termination system.
9 . The battery according to claim 8 , characterized in that the termination system comprises successively: a first layer of a material filled with graphite, and a second dense layer of metallic copper arranged on the first layer of the termination system.
10 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that the width of the free space is between 0.01 mm and 0.5 mm.
11 . The battery according to claim 1 , characterized in that the width of the secondary bodies is between 0.05 mm and 2 mm.
12 . The battery as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the free space is free of insulating material.
13 . The battery as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the free space is free of any material.
14 . The battery as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the free space is empty.
15 . The battery as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the width of the free space is inferior to the width of the secondary body.

Description

The application is a national stage of application of PCT-application number PCT/FR2019/000220 filed Dec. 24, 2019, which claims a priority to French application no FR1874096 filed in France on Dec. 24, 2018, the disclosure of which are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the manufacture of batteries. It can be applied in particular to lithium ion batteries. The invention relates to a novel method for manufacturing batteries, and in particular lithium ion batteries. It also relates to the batteries obtained by this method, which have a novel architecture that confers on them an improved service life. PRIOR ART In order to increase the efficiency of production of rechargeable batteries with high energy density and high power density, such as entirely solid batteries or batteries impregnated with a liquid electrolyte, the simultaneous manufacture of a plurality of batteries can be implemented using a superimposition of alternating anode and cathode sheets previously coated with a layer of electrolyte. WO 2016/001584 (I/TEN) describes sheets comprising a conductive substrate covered successively with a layer of electrode covered with a layer of electrolyte; these sheets are cut, before or after deposition, in patterns, in particular in a U shape. These sheets are stacked in alternation in order to constitute a stack of a plurality of elementary cells. The patterns of cutting of anodes and cathodes are placed in an “opposite orientations” configuration so that the stack of layers of cathode and anode are offset laterally. After the stacking step, this document teaches depositing an encapsulation system in a thick layer of around ten microns and conformal, typically a polymeric layer, on the stack and in the available cavities present within the stack. This makes it possible to ensure firstly the rigidity of the structure at the cutting planes and secondly the protection of the battery cell with regard to the atmosphere. Once the stack is produced and encapsulated in a rigid structure, it is cut along cutting planes in order to obtain unitary batteries, with the baring on each of the cutting planes of the cathode and anode connections of the batteries. It may happen that, during such cutting, the encapsulation system may be torn away, which causes discontinuity of the impermeability of the battery. Adding terminations (i.e. electrical contacts) at the point where these cathode and anode connections are visible is also known. This prior art is explained here in greater detail with reference to FIG. 12, which illustrates a lithium ion battery structure described in WO 2016/001584. The battery 200 comprises a plurality of anodes 230 and a plurality of cathodes 210, which are disposed one above the other in alternation. Each anode and each cathode comprises a layer of a respective anode or cathode active material, referred to as the anode layer and respectively the cathode layer. Moreover, a layer of an electrolyte material, not shown in FIG. 12, is interposed between the anode and the cathode, so that the electrolyte material separates two facing active materials. The thickness of the various layers that constitute them does not normally exceed 10 μm, and is often between 1 μm and 4 μm. The battery has, on a first lateral edge 201, anode connections 230′ located below one another. Moreover, on the opposite lateral edge 202, cathode connections 210′ located below one another are provided. The stack of anodes 230 and cathodes 210 is offset laterally. The cathode connections 210′ are located projecting, with respect to the free face 230″ of the anode. In a similar manner, on the opposite edge 201, the free face 210″ of the cathode is located recessed with respect to the free face of the anode, on which anode connections 230′ are subsequently deposited. This known solution does however have certain drawbacks. This is because, according to the positioning of the electrodes, in particular the proximity of the edges of the electrodes for multilayer batteries and the cleanness of the cuts, a leakage current may appear on the ends, typically in the form of a rampant short-circuit. It reduces the performance of the battery, and this despite the use of an encapsulation system around the battery and in the vicinity of the cathode and anode connections. Moreover, an unsatisfactory deposition of the encapsulation system on the battery is sometimes found, in particular on the edges of the battery at the spaces created by the lateral offsets of the electrodes on the battery edges. Moreover, since the terminations, respectively anode and cathode, are situated recessed from the adjacent layers, respectively cathode and anode, it is necessary to make a cutout of large dimensions. Such a cutout must then be filled by means of an insulating material. Given the large dimensions thereof, this cutout leads to a substantial loss of useful materials, for produ