Multi-layered band and a method for manufacturing a multi-layered band

Abstract

A multi-layered band and a method for manufacturing a multi-layered band are disclosed. The multi-layered band comprises a support (1) to hold at least one battery structure (10) formed by overlapped layers including a porous material (11) and two electroactive electrodes (12, 13), one oxidizing (12) and one reducing (13), separated at a certain distance between them and in touch with said porous material (11). The battery structure (10) is configured to be activated upon the addition of a fluid into a given region of the porous material (11) and to provide electrical energy while said fluid impregnates by capillarity the porous material (11). The overlapped layers are constituted by parallel strips extending longitudinally along the length of the support (1), such that said multi-layered band can be cut transversally providing individual batteries of a same or different width each including the porous material (11) and the electroactive electrodes (12, 13).

Claims

1. A multi-layered band, comprising: a support configured to hold at least one battery structure formed by a plurality of overlapped layers, said plurality of overlapped layers including: a porous material, and at least two electroactive electrodes, one oxidizing electrode and one reducing electrode, the electroactive electrodes being separated at a certain distance between them and in touch with said porous material, the battery structure being configured to be activated upon the addition of a fluid, acting as the battery electrolyte, into a given region of the porous material and to provide electrical energy while said fluid impregnates by capillarity the porous material, wherein said overlapped layers are constituted by parallel strips extending longitudinally along the length of the support, such that said multi-layered band can be cut transversally providing individual batteries of a same or different width each including the porous material and the at least two electroactive electrodes.

2. The band of claim 1, further comprising a lateral flow assay device formed by different overlapped porous membranes assembled over the support.

3. The band according to claim 2, wherein the lateral flow assay device is arranged interconnected with the battery structure.

4. The band according to claim 1, wherein the battery structure is a paper-based battery, wherein the oxidizing electrode comprises redox species, carbon, metals, alloys or polymers, and wherein the reducing electrode comprises an air-breathing cathode, redox species, carbon, metals, alloys or polymers.

5. The band according to claim 1, wherein the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode of the battery structure are arranged side by side or face to face.

6. The band according to claim 1, wherein the support comprises several battery structures connected in series to increase an output voltage or in parallel to increase an output current.

7. The band according to claim 1, wherein the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode are in touch with the porous material using a mechanical fixing element or using an attaching agent including an adhesive, a polymer coating or an adhesive or polymer coating that is electrically conductive at least in part.

8. The band according to claim 7, wherein the attaching agent is porous or perforated in at least some parts to provide permeation of oxygen to at least the reducing electrode.

9. The band according to claim 1, further comprising a series of longitudinal pre-cuts passing through the multi-layered band, said series of longitudinal pre-cuts being spaced apart at an equal or different distance between them, such that the cut individual batteries can all be of the same width or different width.

10. The band according to claim 1, comprising a card-length format or a roll format.

11. A method for manufacturing a multi-layered band, the method comprising: assembling a plurality of layers including a porous material and at least two electroactive electrodes, one oxidizing and one reducing, over a support forming a multi-layered band, said plurality of layers being constituted by parallel strips extending longitudinally along the length of the support, said at least two electroactive electrodes being separated at a certain distance between them and being in touch with said porous material, and said plurality of layers forming at least one battery structure that is activated upon the addition of a fluid, acting as the battery electrolyte, into a given region of the porous material providing electrical energy while said fluid impregnates by capillarity the porous material; and cutting the multi-layered band transversally generating multiple batteries of a same or different width each including the porous material and the at least two electroactive electrodes.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising assembling different porous membranes forming a lateral flow assay device over the support.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the assembling is performed via a batch processing method or a reel-to-reel processing method.

14. The method of claims 11, wherein the oxidizing electrode and the reducing electrode are arranged side by side or face to face.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein said cutting is performed using a series of longitudinal pre-cuts passing through the multi-layered band, said series of longitudinal pre-cuts being spaced apart at an equal or different distance between them.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The previous and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of embodiments, with reference to the attached figures, which must be considered in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a lateral flow test strip according to the state of the art.

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the lamination of materials for lateral flow fabrication as per the state of the art.

(4) FIGS. 3A to 3C represent different schematic illustrations of the electrodes arrangement in prior art paper battery configurations.

(5) FIG. 4 shows an example of fabrication of one of the batteries that are included in the proposed multi-layered band. A) Materials. B-E) Lamination of different layers for battery construction. F) Cutting of individual batteries of different widths. G) Cross-section view of battery.

(6) FIG. 5 shows examples of the laminated format of the proposed multi-layered band; A) illustrates a sandwich or superposed configuration and B) illustrates side-by-side configuration.

(7) FIG. 6 shows some battery stack configurations according to different embodiments of the present invention; A) illustrates a 2-battery stack with single paper strip and B) a 2-battery stack with separated paper strip for each battery.

(8) FIG. 7 shows an example of the attaching agents to cover reducing electrode. A) Side-view of battery using porous attaching agent. B) Top-view of battery using attaching agent with periodic openings/apertures.

(9) FIG. 8 shows an example of backing card including laminated battery.

(10) FIG. 9 shows examples of battery lamination with assay in (A) batch and (B) reel-to-reel methods.

(11) FIG. 10 schematically shows an example of backing card including battery and assay. A) Top view of assembled backing card. After assembly, the backing card is cut in single strips. B) Cross-section view of assay and battery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(12) The present invention provides a multi-layered band that comprises at least one battery structure 10 (preferably a paper-based battery) that is composed of a porous material or membrane 11 in contact with at least two electroactive electrodes 12, 13 in a film format, at least one of them oxidizing (anode) 12 and at least one of them reducing (cathode) 13.

(13) According to a preferred embodiment, the proposed multi-layered band also comprises a lateral flow assay device 20 (see FIG. 7) formed by different overlapped porous membranes assembled over the support 1.

(14) The porous material 11 can be composed of any porous material capable of wicking a liquid or fluid by capillarity, such as cellulose, nitrocellulose, glass fiber, polymer, fabric, etc. The oxidizing electrode 12 can be composed of any redox species, metal, alloy or polymer oxidizing material, for example of anthraquinone, viologen, TEMPO, Calcium, Iron, Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc, Aluminum, among others. The reducing electrode 13 can be composed of any redox species, metal, alloy or polymer reducing material, for example of an air-breathing cathode, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, benzoquinone, TEMPO, among others. That is, in this case the battery 10 generates energy from the oxidation of the anode 12 and a reduction reaction at the cathode 13.

(15) The reaction of the battery 10 is triggered by the addition of a liquid or fluid into the porous material 11. The fluid would act as the battery electrolyte that conducts the ions to close the battery electrochemical reaction. A solid or gel compound can be dry-stored within the porous material 11 to increase the ionic conductivity between the electroactive electrodes 12, 13. The stored electrolyte can be dissolved or re-hydrated upon the addition of the fluid to the porous material 11.

(16) The battery 10 can provide an output power with a stagnant electrolyte, although a flowing electrolyte would result in a high power output. The electrolyte can flow by capillary action and the flow rate can be sustained as long as the porous material 11 continues wicking or the porous material 11 is put in contact with an additional porous material that acts as an absorbent pad.

(17) The battery 10 decreases its performance as the electroactive electrodes 12, 13 are consumed and its reaction stops when at least one of the electroactive electrodes 12, 13 is completely consumed.

(18) The electrodes active area and shape determine the current provided by the battery 10. The electrode thickness has an effect in the duration of the battery 10 in operation and the internal resistance of the battery 10.

(19) With reference to FIG. 4, therein it is illustrated an embodiment of the fabrication of the battery 10. As shown in the figure, the battery 10 is fabricated following the same strategies and processes of a lateral flow assay, i.e. assembling different layers on a substrate 1 and then cutting them transversally to generate multiple individual batteries.

(20) Several configurations are possible to mount the battery 10 with respect to lateral flow assay 20. Following table describes the pros and cons of each configuration.

(21) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Examples of battery configurations in relation to the assay Position of battery in the assay PROS CONS Sample pad Energy from the battery is The by-products of the battery produced from the moment the reaction might affect the operation of sample is added. the assay. Sink pad By-products of battery reaction do The flow rate of sample in the not affect the assay. battery and the filling time is limited The battery can provide a signal by the assay membrane materials. of the moment when the liquid sample has reached the pad. Easy to include in the assay. Backside Does not interfere with the assay. It may be more expensive to It can be fabricated independently integrate. of the assay and combined during final assembly. The battery can take advantage of the whole length of the assay. Parallel Battery is fabricated completely The battery has to be connected to independent from the assay. the assay afterwards which may lead The battery can be fabricated with to higher production costs. less design restrictions.

(22) Depending on the desired configuration and/or application, the battery 10 (or batteries) can be laminated at the same time of the lateral flow assay 20 or produced separately and “placed together” afterwards.

(23) The paper used in the battery 10 can be used as any of the components in the lateral flow test assay 20, for example sample pad, sink pad, conjugate pad or the membrane. The position of the battery 10 with respect to the assay would determine the size, shape and assembly order of the materials used for lamination.

(24) The electroactive electrodes 12, 13 can be placed in a coplanar configuration (side by side) or in vertical configuration (face to face with paper in-between). The electroactive electrode 12, 13 configuration and the separation between electrodes 12, 13 determine the internal resistance of the battery 10 and hence the response of the battery 10.

(25) Moreover, in present invention several batteries 10 can be connected in series to increase the output voltage or in parallel to increase the output current, as shown in FIG. 6. The battery stack can be implemented in the same porous material 11 or in separated segments of porous material. The connection between the different electroactive electrodes 12_A, 13_A, 12_B, 13_B composing the battery stack can be done internally during fabrication or can be done externally by means of cables, pins, a welding spot, (conductive) adhesives or pastes, etc.

(26) Besides, the attaching agent 14 used to laminate the battery 10 can be provided with a conductive layer such as a conductive adhesive, a conductive polymer coating, metal evaporation or sputtering or by printing patterns by printing electronics techniques. This attaching agent 14 can be used to contact the electroactive electrodes 12, 13 while fixing the components of the lamination.

(27) In a particular embodiment, the attaching agent 14 comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA).

(28) The attaching agent 14 covering the battery 10 can be a porous film 15 (FIG. 7A) or a film with (periodical) openings/apertures (FIG. 7B), at least in some of its parts, to allow permeation of oxygen to the cathode electrode 13.

(29) With reference to FIG. 8, therein it is illustrated an embodiment of the proposed multi-layered band fabrication using batch method by pre-assembling the battery 10 in a backing card acting as support 1. The backing card 1 can leave spaces available to assemble the lateral flow assay 20 components such as the nitrocellulose membrane 22, conjugate 23 and other pads 24.

(30) In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 9, the battery 10 can be pre-assembled in a card-length format (FIG. 9A) to be assembled in a backing card 1 with the assay 20 in batch mode or in a roll format (FIG. 9B) to be laminated in reel-to-reel processing.

(31) After assembly of the different laminate materials on the backing substrate 1, the card is cut in individual strips of the desired width w. FIG. 10 shows top and cross sectional views of an example of assembled backing card with the main lateral flow assay 20 components (sample pad 24, conjugate pad 23, nitrocellulose membrane 22 with dispensed test and control lines 21) in which the battery paper strip 11 acts as the assay absorbent pad.

(32) In yet another embodiment, in this case not illustrated, the cut single strip which includes the battery/batteries 10 and optionally the lateral flow assay 20 is arranged inside a casing or cassette, to provide robustness and facilitate addition of the liquid or fluid sample and reading of the result. The casing can be made of plastic or other materials such as a polymeric material or a wax. The casing can incorporate other components, such a conducting track, an electrical discharge load, a lighting unit such as a LED, etc.

(33) It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the description and figures are merely illustrative and not limiting. They are presented by way of example only.

(34) The scope of the present invention is defined in the following set of claims.