Methods for making solid-state laminate electrode assemblies include methods of forming a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) by ion implanting nitrogen and/or phosphorous into the glass surface by ion implantation.

Disclosed is a rapidly rechargeable lithium secondary battery. The present invention provides a negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery, the negative electrode being characterized by including: a current collector; a negative electrode material layer which is formed on the current collector and includes negative electrode active material particles, conductive material particles, and a binder; and a surface layer which is formed on the surface of the negative electrode material layer, is formed of insulating particles that are inert with respect to lithium, and partially shields the negative electrode material layer. According to the present invention, a negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery having a high charging speed without lifetime degradation can be provided.

An electrode for use in an electrical energy storage apparatus includes: a carrier structure including a plurality of vacancies thereon; and an active material arranged to undergo chemical reaction during charging and/or discharging of the electrical energy storage apparatus; wherein the active material occupies the plurality of vacancies on the carrier structure.

A material deposition apparatus for depositing an evaporated material onto a substrate is provided. The material deposition apparatus includes a processing drum having a cooler configured to control a substrate temperature during processing of a substrate on the processing drum; a roller guiding the substrate towards the processing drum; a first heater assembly positioned to heat the substrate in a free-span area between the roller and the processing drum; a second heater assembly positioned to heat the substrate while being supported on the processing drum; at least one deposition source provided along a substrate transport path downstream of the second heater assembly; a substrate speed sensor providing a speed signal correlating with a substrate transportation speed; and a controller having an input for the speed signal configured to control at least the first heater assembly.

The present invention relates to a silicon-nanographite aerogel for use as an anode in a battery, such as a lithium ion battery, comprising a matrix of nanographite flakes consisting of a mixture of graphene, multilayer graphene and graphite nanoplatelets, and silicon nanoparticles having a diameter between 1 nm and 100 nm, whereby the aerogel has a three-dimensional structure with pores between the flakes, whereby the specific surface area accommodates a volume expansion of the silicon nanoparticles of at least 400% during lithiation, and wherein the surfaces of the nanographite flakes are for 10 to 90% covered with nanoparticles of silicon or wherein the aerogel has a specific surface area between 10 and 500 m.sup.2/g as measured using a BET (Braunauer-Emmett-Teller). The invention also relates to a method of making the aerogel and an electrode comprising the aerogel.

A method comprises obtaining a stack for an energy storage device, the stack comprising a first electrode layer and an electrolyte layer. The method comprises depositing a first material over an exposed portion of the first electrode layer and an exposed portion of the electrolyte layer. The method comprises depositing a second material over the first material and to form a second electrode layer of the stack, and to provide an electrical connection from the second electrode layer, for connecting to a further such second electrode layer via the second material. The electrolyte layer is between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. The first material insulates the exposed portions of the first electrode layer and the electrolyte layer from the second material. Also disclosed is an apparatus for maintaining top-down inkjet material deposition.

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.

The present invention relates to a current collector for a negative electrode, coated with at least one electronically conducting and ionically insulating layer, to the method for producing such a collector, and to batteries containing same.

A deposition system includes comprising an induction crucible apparatus configured to produce a material vapour. When in use, the induction crucible apparatus is configured to inductively heat a crucible to generate two or more thermal zones in the crucible. The deposition system further includes a substrate support configured to support a substrate and a plasma source configured to generate a plasma between the induction crucible apparatus and the substrate support such that transmission of the material vapour at least partly through the plasma generates a deposition material for deposition on the substrate.

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to separators, high performance electrochemical devices, such as, batteries and capacitors, including the aforementioned separators, and methods for fabricating the same. In one implementation, a method of forming a separator for a battery is provided. The method comprises exposing a metallic material to be deposited on a surface of an electrode structure positioned in a processing region to an evaporation process. The method further comprises flowing a reactive gas into the processing region. The method further comprises reacting the reactive gas and the evaporated metallic material to deposit a ceramic separator layer on the surface of the electrode structure.