Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Erik Damon Huemiller

Shaomao Xu

Ryan Curtis Sekol

Michael P Balogh

Dmitriy Bruder

Jin Liu

Wayne Cai

Duane S Carper

Raffaello Ardanese

Ratandeep S Kukreja

Megan E McGovern

Daad B Haddad

Nahel Eshaq

Nicholas P Irish

Whitney A Poling

Andrew J Galant

Nicholas Paul William Pieczonka

Robin James

Caleb Reese

A method for validating non-destructive, electromagnetic methods in atmospheric conditions of a battery cell intended to include a lithium metal layer includes selecting a lithium mimic metal layer to replace the lithium metal layer; and creating a mock-up sample including one or more layers of the battery cell. One or more layers comprise the lithium mimic metal layer. The method includes performing electromagnetic testing of the mock-up sample.

Battery mock-up samples including lithium metal or lithium mimic metal for electromagnetic testing in ambient conditions

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.

Melt spinning methods for forming lithium-metal foils and electrodes of electrochemical devices

A quality control system in a battery manufacturing process includes two or more capacitive measurement apparatuses to obtain a capacitance measurement from two or more intermediate products generated during the battery manufacturing process. The system also includes processing circuitry to obtain the capacitive measurement from the two or more capacitive measurement apparatuses, to determine a characteristic of the corresponding intermediate product, and to control at least one process of the battery manufacturing process that produced at least one of the two or more intermediate products based on the characteristic.

Capacitance-based quality monitoring and control in battery manufacturing

In various aspects, the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing an electrode for an electrochemical cell. The method includes contacting a solid electrode material and a substrate at an interface. The method further includes preparing a liquid electrode material at the interface by heating at least a portion of the solid electrode material to a first temperature. The first temperature is greater than or equal to a melting point of the solid electrode material. The method further includes creating a layer of the liquid electrode material on the substrate by moving at least one of the solid electrode material and the substrate with respect to the other of the solid electrode material and the substrate. The method further includes forming the electrode by cooling the liquid electrode material to a second temperature. The second temperature is less than or equal to the melting point.

Method of fabricating an electrode for an electrochemical cell

A method of making a calendered electrode for a battery cell comprises introducing a coated electrode having a first surface extending thereover. The coated electrode has a predetermined density of active materials for ion transport. The method further comprises selectively modifying the coated electrode by patterning the first surface to define a patterned electrode having a first portion and a second portion. After the step of selectively modifying, the method further comprises compressing the patterned electrode by calendering the first surface to provide the first portion having a first density of active materials and the second portion having a second density of active materials. The second density is greater than the first density to define the calendered electrode having a spatial variation of active material density.

Calendered electrode and method of making same

A system for testing a battery cell includes a test fixture configured to enclose the battery cell, a battery cycler configured to alternately charge and discharge the battery cell, an antenna mounted on a surface of the test fixture, the antenna configured to detect an electromagnetic signature of the battery cell and generate a signal indicative of the electromagnetic signature, and a detection module configured to receive the signal and detect characteristics of the battery cell based on the signal.

System for electro-magnetic induction spectroscopy (EMIS) of battery cells while forming and cycling

A battery electrode includes an electrically conductive sheet and two or more coating layers of an ion transport medium stacked thereon. Each coating layer has a respective two-dimensional array of low porosity regions formed therein, with a remainder of each coating layer that is not the two-dimensional array of low porosity regions defining a respective network of interconnected high porosity regions. Each of the high porosity regions has a feature size D, and an intralayer pitch P is defined between adjacent ones of the high porosity regions of each coating layer, with each pair of adjacent two-dimensional arrays having a respective alignment error E therebetween. A respective first electrically conductive path is formed thereacross via the networks of high porosity regions when D&#x2264;E&#x2264;P, with a second electrically conductive path being formed across all of the coating layers via the networks of high porosity regions.

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Waterford, MI, United States of America

Erik Damon Huemiller