A web coating platform for depositing molten metal on flexible substrates is provided. The web coating platform can be used for manufacturing solid lithium anodes for use in energy storage devices, for example, rechargeable batteries. The coating platform can be designed for double-sided coating of a continuous flexible substrate (e.g., a copper foil) with molten lithium followed by double-sided lamination or passivation. The coating platform integrates novel coating elements unique to handling and processing molten metals. For example, some implementations of the present disclosure incorporate double-sided molten metal coating elements, which include at least one of a molten metal application assembly (e.g., kiss roller, slot-die, Meyer bar, and/or gravure roller), a primary melt pool assembly, a secondary melt pool assembly, and an engagement mechanism.

A composite anode for a zinc-based battery device is disclosed. The composite anode includes a pretreated Zn layer with one or more first coating layers, where in the Zn layer comprises a Zn film and a pretreated current collector substrate with one or more substrate coating layers. The pretreated Zn layer is pretreated by one or more of polishing, grinding, sanding, etching, and cleaning and the pretreated current collector substrate is pretreated by one or more of polishing, grinding, sanding, etching, and cleaning.

Presented are lithium-metal electrodes for electrochemical devices, systems and methods for manufacturing lithium-metal foils, and vehicle battery packs containing battery cells with lithium-metal anodes. A method of melt spinning lithium-metal foils includes melting lithium (Li) metal stock in an actively heated vessel to form molten Li metal. Using pressurized gas, the molten Li metal is ejected through a slotted nozzle at the base of the vessel. The ejected molten Li metal is directly impinged onto an actively cooled and spinning quench wheel or a carrier sheet that is fed across a support roller underneath the vessel. The molten Li metal is cooled and solidified on the spinning wheel/carrier sheet to form a Li-metal foil. The carrier sheet may be a polymeric carrier film or a copper current collector foil. An optional protective film may be applied onto an exposed surface of the Li-metal foil opposite the carrier sheet.

A shoe for dispensing a molten metal such as lead into a mold cavity of a rotating dmm to continuously cast a web of a plurality of serially connected grids or battery composite electrodes of a carbon fiber material with a cast metal conductor. The shoe may have at least one elongate orifice slot in a face confronting the drum, a molten metal supply passage communicating with the Norifice slot and an excess molten metal return slot opening into the confronting face downstream of the supply slot relative generally to the direction of rotation of the dmm.

A method and apparatus for manufacturing a flexible layer stack, and to a flexible layer stack. Implementations of the present disclosure particularly relate to a method and apparatus for coating flexible substrates with a low melting temperature metal or metal alloy. In one implementation, a method is provided. The method includes delivering a transfer liquid to a quenching surface of a rotating casting drum. The method further includes forming a material layer stack over the rotating casting drum by delivering a molten metal or molten metal alloy toward the quenching surface of the rotating casting drum. The method further includes transferring the material layer stack from the rotating casting drum to a continuous flexible substrate, wherein the quenching surface of the rotating casting drum is cooled to a temperature at which the layers of the material layer stack solidify.

A method for patterning a lithium metal surface, including the steps of (S1) forming an intaglio or relief pattern having a predetermined size on a patterning substrate; (S2) either (a) compressing lithium metal physically to a surface of the patterning substrate having the pattern formed thereon to form the predetermined pattern on the surface of the lithium metal, or (b) applying liquid lithium to the surface of the patterning substrate having the pattern formed thereon and solidifying the liquid lithium to form the predetermined pattern on the surface of the lithium metal; and (S3) separating the lithium metal having the predetermined pattern formed thereon from the patterning substrate, wherein the patterning substrate is at least one selected from a silicon wafer or polycarbonate substrate.

An electrode for the use of an advanced lithium battery is fabricated using three-dimensionally structured metal foam coated with an active material. The metal foam is porous metal foam that can be used as an anode current collector of a lithium-ion battery and is coated with an anode active material, such as tin, through a sonication-assisted electroless plating method. Additionally, the coated metal foam is heat-treated at an appropriate temperature in order to improve the integrity of the coating layer and hence, the cyclic performance of the lithium-ion battery.

Systems and methods are provided for producing an electrode comprising a current collector and an active material. The active material is tape cast and laminated to the current collector. This electrode may be used as the anode and/or cathode of a lithium-ion battery. The tape casting may be performed by coating a device with a slurry and allowing the slurry to dry. The device may be, for example, a stainless steel drum or a belt having a low adhesion. The slurry may be pealed from the device as a laminate layer. One or more laminate layers may be adhered to the current collector that is subsequently pyrolyzed.

A composite cathode material includes a gel polymer electrolyte and particles of a cathode material. The particles of the cathode material are arranged in the gel polymer electrolyte.

A lithium-sulfur battery cathode including conductive porous carbon particles vacuum infused with sulfur and a conductive collector substrate to which the sulfur infused porous carbon particles are deposited. The sulfur infused carbon particles are encapsulated by an encapsulation polymer, the encapsulation polymer having ionic conductivity, electronic conductivity, polysulfide affinity, or combinations thereof. A lithium-sulfur battery including the lithium-sulfur battery cathode, a lithium anode and an electrolyte disposed between the sulfur cathode and the lithium anode is also provided. Methods of producing the sulfur cathode for use in a lithium-sulfur battery by a hybrid vacuum-and-melt method are also provided.