Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Shaomao Xu

Ryan Curtis Sekol

Erik Damon Huemiller

Michael P Balogh

Dmitriy Bruder

Daad B Haddad

Jin Liu

Ming Wang

Wayne Cai

Duane S Carper

Raffaello Ardanese

Louis G Hector, Jr

Andrew Clay Bobel

Raghunathan K

Ratandeep S Kukreja

Nahel Eshaq

Megan E McGovern

Nicholas P Irish

Whitney A Poling

Andrew J Galant

Nicholas Paul William Pieczonka

Robin James

Xiaowei Yu

Mary Gilliam

Caleb Reese

Yaoyu Ren

Diptak Bhattacharya

A method for coating a web with a metal layer includes heating a metal in a container to create molten metal. The metal is selected from a group consisting of lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), indium (In), tin (Sn), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb). The method includes coating at least one surface of a web with a metal layer using the molten metal. The web is made of a material selected from a group consisting of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti), stainless steel, polymer, and carbon.

Method for coating a metal layer such as lithium metal on a web such as a current collector foil

A method for manufacturing an anode electrode includes supplying an anode current collector; coating a first portion of the anode current collector with a precursor coating; not coating a second portion of the anode current collector with the precursor coating; treating the anode current collector with plasma to at least one of decrease lithium wettability of the first portion and to increase lithium wettability of the second portion; and coating the anode current collector with lithium metal to form an anode active material layer.

Method for tuning lithium wettability of an anode current collector using plasma surface modification

A method of making a battery current collector foil includes heat treating a foil sheet and mechanically roughening the heat treated foil sheet to create a surface roughness of between 2-4 μm. The heat treating and mechanical roughening of the foil sheet provides improved coating adhesion. One of an anode and cathode coating is then applied to the roughened, heat treated, foil sheet.

Current collector patterning for enhanced adhesion

Aspects of the disclosure include leveraging an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping of copper current collectors for non-contact, non-destructive, in-line quality inspections of thin lithium metal anodes. An exemplary method can include receiving an electrode at a detection surface of the XRF detector. The electrode can include the lithium anode on a surface of a current collector. X-rays are passed through the lithium anode and into the current collector and the intensity of characteristic radiation returning from the current collector is measured at the XRF detector. A lithium anode characteristic can be inferred based on the measured intensity of characteristic radiation from the current collector.

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping for anode inspection

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.

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Sterling Heights, MI, United States of America

Shaomao Xu