Solid-State Battery Mass Production

Controlling thickness variation in battery electrodes during manufacturing using vacuum pressure. The technique involves applying vacuum suction near the slot die coating opening to draw the electrode material onto the current collector as it's being coated. This helps maintain consistent thickness as the material is being applied. The vacuum device is controlled based on sensor feedback measuring the electrode thickness.

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Scalable continuous fabrication process for all-solid-state batteries using zig-zag stacking of bendable electrodes. The process involves stacking alternating continuous anode and cathode electrodes in a zig-zag pattern instead of punched sheets. This allows scalable production of ASSB cells with improved mechanical flexibility. The continuous electrodes have current collectors and active materials on both sides. A sulfide electrolyte layer is applied between adjacent electrodes. The zig-zag stacking provides high speed, accurate positioning, and reduced cost compared to punching individual sheets.

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Process for preparing argyrodite-type solid-state electrolytes for lithium batteries that involves contacting lithium and phosphorus sources with a solvent-reagent at lower temperatures, like 80-120°C, instead of high temperatures like 400-600°C. This allows forming Li7-xPS6-xYx compounds directly in solution, which can then be collected and further processed into solid-state electrolytes. The solvent contains a lithium salt like LiCl and a polymer like PVP. The lower temperature synthesis enables scalable production of argyrodite electrolytes using earth-abundant elements like phosphorus and chlorine.

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Process for making high-performance solid-state lithium-ion batteries with improved energy density, cycle life, and safety compared to liquid electrolyte batteries. The process involves mixing ceramic electrolyte powder with flux materials and heating at lower temperatures to form a dense, lithium-conducting electrolyte. This enables depositing thin-film electrolytes with high ionic conductivity suitable for all-solid-state batteries. The lower processing temperatures avoid issues like phase transformation and sintering. The fluxed powder is shaped and heated again at lower temperatures to densify the electrolyte. The lower temperatures and fluxing step allow forming dense electrolytes without sintering issues when directly depositing ceramic powders at high temperatures.

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Battery pack design and assembly method for maximizing the volume ratio of solid state battery cells in a pack by using a compact vertical stacking configuration. The pack consists of aligned solid state battery cells, a sensing circuit with busbars to connect to the cells, a sensing block with wedges to tight-contact the busbars and cell leads, and a cover. The cells are stacked vertically, leads connect to busbars, and wedges hold them tight. This eliminates side-by-side cell arrangement, pack housing, and interconnects, allowing more cells in the same space.

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Solid electrolyte composition for all-solid state secondary batteries that improves interfacial resistance between solid particles and collectors. The composition contains an inorganic solid electrolyte, binder particles with specific surface properties, and a dispersion medium. The binder particles have a polymer with an SP value of 10.5 cal/cm^3/2 or more and an average diameter of 10-50,000 nm. This composition provides favorable wettability, bonding, and resistance suppression for all-solid state batteries.

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An electrode assembly for stacked batteries that improves production efficiency and safety by folding and interleaving the electrode plates. The assembly involves folding a first electrode plate back and forth to create multiple laminates, then folding a second electrode plate once to create two laminates. These folded plates are inserted with separators to alternately stack and interleave the laminates. This allows efficient, one-by-one assembly of folded plates instead of sequential stacking of separate plates. It also prevents short circuits by having the folded second plate overlap the folded first plate.

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All solid-state lithium ion batteries with improved ionic conductivity by optimizing the particle size and shape of the inorganic solid electrolyte material. The particles are made by milling the electrolyte with specific filling percentages and crushing media to achieve particles with restricted surface unevenness. This prevents grain boundary resistance and improves ionic conductivity compared to conventionally milled particles. The optimized particles can be used in the electrode layers of the battery to provide better ionic conduction.

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Low cost, reinforced solid polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries that have improved mechanical, electrochemical, and thermal stability compared to conventional polymer electrolytes. The electrolyte is made by dissolving a fluoropolymer in a solvent, mixing it with an ionic liquid, adding lithium salt, and impregnating a porous substrate. This solid electrolyte can be used in lithium-ion batteries to enable solid-state battery technology. The reinforced polymer electrolyte provides mechanical stability, prevents short circuits from dendrite growth, and has higher ionic conductivity compared to conventional polymer electrolytes.

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Electrode for all-solid-state batteries with reduced interfacial resistance between the electrode and the solid electrolyte layer. The electrode is manufactured by coating a preliminary electrode active material layer on the current collector, followed by a step of coating a solid electrolyte layer on the preliminary electrode active material layer. This results in an electrode with a lower porosity compared to conventional electrodes. The reduced porosity improves the interfacial resistance between the active material and the solid electrolyte, leading to better battery performance.

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Monolithic ceramic electrochemical cell for solid-state lithium-ion batteries with integrated electrodes and separator. The cell has a ceramic housing with interconnected electrode spaces. The electrodes have 3D porous structures with conducting networks on sidewalls. The separator is solid ceramic. During charging, lithium forms in the anode space and ions move through the ceramic separator. This eliminates the need for liquid electrolyte and prevents dendrite growth. The 3D porous electrodes improve performance by enhancing lithium ion and electron access. The monolithic design allows hermetic sealing of the anode.

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Bipolar batteries with solid-state electrolytes that enable high-voltage operation without internal seals. The batteries have multiple bipolar electrodes sandwiched between electrolyte layers, with terminal electrodes on the ends. The electrolyte is a solid ionically conductive polymer that allows ions to diffuse through in the glassy state. This allows the battery to operate at high voltages without needing liquid electrolytes or seals. The polymer electrolyte can be synthesized by mixing a polymer, dopant, and ionic compound, then heating to form the solid ionically conductive material.

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Battery module design with improved productivity, a battery pack using it, and a manufacturing method. The module has a simplified high voltage (HV) and low voltage (LV) connection scheme. The HV connection is done inside the module by bending and joining electrode leads through slits in sensing blocks covering the cell stack. This eliminates the need for external HV connectors. The LV connection is also simplified by integrating the LV sensing assembly with the lead assembly. An elastic cover encloses both sensing blocks and the cell stack. This allows exposing the lower cell surface for thermal contact. The manufacturing process involves stacking cells, covering with sensing blocks, joining leads, and adding the elastic cover. Simultaneous lead and sensing plate welding improves productivity.

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Solid-state batteries with improved performance by using interlayers between the solid-state electrolyte and electrodes. The interlayer is made of a different solid electrolyte material than the main electrolyte. This improves interfacial compatibility and reduces parasitic currents compared to using only the main electrolyte. The interlayer thickness is 0.1-8 microns. The interlayer can cover 50-100% of the electrode surface. The interlayer can have through-holes.

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Electrode layer for all-solid state batteries that improves capacity retention. The electrode layer contains an electrode active material, a sulfide solid electrolyte, and a residual liquid. The residual liquid has a low cohesion energy density (delta P < 2.9 MPa½) and a high boiling point (190°C or higher). This reduces cracking and deterioration of the sulfide electrolyte while maintaining ionic conductivity.

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A compression system for activating cylindrical battery cells, like jelly-roll style solid-state batteries, by applying pressure and heat to increase surface area contacts. The system uses a compression mechanism that squeezes a buffer material wrapped around the battery cell. This uniformly distributes pressure to the curved cell sidewall. Heating elements surround the buffer to apply heat while compressing. This compresses and activates the cell without liquids or clean-up issues.

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All-solid-state battery design with improved durability by preventing non-uniform lithium deposition and dendrite growth. The battery has a planar shape with a specific area-to-perimeter ratio of 0.7 or less. This prevents lithium from concentrating at the edges due to higher surface energy, which can cause short circuits and dead lithium. By reducing the perimeter relative to the area, lithium ions are less inclined to migrate to the edges and deposit uniformly.

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Solid electrolyte material for all-solid-state lithium batteries that provides high ionic conductivity and improved stability. The solid electrolyte has a specific composition of Li6-x-2yCuxP5-yX, where x, y, and X are adjustable parameters. The electrolyte can be produced by milling lithium sulfide, phosphorus sulfide, halogen compound, and copper compound together under inert atmosphere. The resulting solid material has a crystalline phase with the argyrodite structure.

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An all-solid-state battery with a protective exterior that suppresses moisture ingress. The battery has an exterior made of a combination of glass and crystalline materials. This allows the battery to be mounted on circuit boards using reflow techniques since the exterior transforms from a moldable state to a solid state during curing. The glass and crystalline materials in the exterior prevent moisture permeation into the battery. This enables all-solid-state batteries to be used in devices like wearables, IoT devices, sensors, and electric vehicles without the need for encapsulation or sealing.

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Solid state batteries with improved energy density, flexibility, and safety compared to conventional solid state batteries. The batteries use a melt-infiltration process to incorporate a high volume fraction of active material into the electrodes, rather than mixing powders. A liquid electrolyte composition is infiltrated into the electrodes or separator at elevated temperatures when molten. This allows higher active material loading and thinner electrolyte layers. It also enables using thermally stable polymer separators instead of porous ceramics. The process improves rate performance, energy density, and flexibility compared to conventional solid state batteries.

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Operating lithium metal and anode-free cells in a repeatable manner to achieve cycle life and energy density requirements. The method involves connecting the cells in series in modules and controlling charging/discharging using bi-directional DC-DC converters. This allows independent cell measurement and repeatable stopping at defined SOC limits. By leaving some charge in anode-free cells to prevent dendrite growth, it enables practical use. This reduces gas generation, swelling, and failure compared to fully depleting.

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Monolithic ceramic electrochemical cell housing for high energy density solid-state batteries with integrated electron conductive circuits. The housing is made by additive manufacturing precursor materials into a single monolithic structure without physical interfaces between layers. This allows eliminating the drawbacks of assembling cells from ceramic sheets with their final properties. The cell design has anode and cathode receptive spaces with integrated current collectors, separator, and porous ceramic electrolyte that forms a fully interconnected ionic conductive web. This allows lithium plating in the hermetically sealed anode space while maintaining ionic conductivity across the cell regardless of state of charge.

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Smart rechargeable energy storage device like electric vehicle batteries with improved performance, safety, and sustainability using pure organic carbon-based graphene. The device uses graphene as the active material in the electrodes and electrolyte instead of traditional materials like lead, graphite, and liquid electrolytes. This provides higher energy density, faster charging, eliminates safety hazards, and enables solid-state batteries. The graphene-based electrodes improve ion transport and eliminate dendrite formation. The graphene electrolyte prevents short-circuiting and improves stability. The device also has smart thermal management and heat sensors for safe operation.

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Solid-state battery cells with shape-memory alloy (SMA) components to mitigate capacity decay during cycling due to volume changes and delamination. SMA sheets are used as current collectors, cell spacers, or end plates to accommodate volume expansion of the active materials during charge/discharge. The SMA sheets undergo stress-induced martensitic transformations to expand or contract thickness in response to battery volume changes. This allows the SMA to constrain the active material expansion and prevent delamination. The SMA sheets can also be incorporated into the cell stack as flat spacers between cells to maintain uniform pressure.

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All-solid-state battery with uniform lithium deposition and improved durability by balancing the binding forces at the interfaces between the functional layer, solid electrolyte, and anode current collector. The binding force ratio between the second interface (functional layer-anode) and first interface (functional layer-solid electrolyte) is 0.6 or higher to prevent lithium concentration gradients and uneven deposition. The uniform lithium deposition helps avoid dendrite growth and improves battery life.

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Thin film solid-state electrolyte for solid-state batteries with improved properties like stability, compatibility with lithium metal, and processability. The electrolyte is a multiphase film containing a primary cubic lithium-stuffed garnet phase with secondary inclusions. The primary phase is a lithium-stuffed garnet with composition LiALaBAlcM″DZrEOF where A, B, C, D, E, F, M″ are specific values. The secondary inclusions are other phases like tetragonal garnet, lithium aluminate, etc. The primary phase is present at 70-99.9% volume and the secondary phase at 30-0.1% volume. This multiphase composition provides stability, chemical compatibility, mechanical strength, and sinterability for solid-state batteries.

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Monolithic ceramic electrochemical cell housing for high energy density lithium-ion batteries that eliminates the need for liquid electrolyte and allows solid-state batteries to be manufactured at lower cost and higher energy density than existing solid-state batteries. The housing is made by depositing precursors in layers and sintering them into a single monolithic structure. The housing has multiple subcells with ceramic separators, anodes, and cathodes. The anodes are 3D porous structures with ionic conduction through strands, pores, and networks. This allows lithium to form in the pores during charging, avoiding dendrite growth and short circuits.

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Solid state batteries with high energy density, improved safety, and enhanced flexibility for applications like electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and medical devices. The batteries use solid electrolytes that are melt-infiltrated into the electrodes instead of mixed in. This allows higher loadings of active materials and thinner electrolyte membranes compared to conventional solid state batteries. The melt-infiltration process involves heating the electrodes with the solid electrolyte composition to a temperature where the electrolyte melts and fills the electrode pores. This provides higher volumetric energy density, rate performance, and flexibility compared to mixed solid state batteries. The solid electrolyte composition can have a melting point above 200°C to enable infiltration. The infiltrated electrodes are cooled to solidify the electrolyte.

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An all-solid-state battery design with features to prevent short circuits in laminate-type all-solid-state batteries. The battery has multiple stacked battery units with cathode, anode, and solid electrolyte layers. To suppress short circuits, the current collector protrusions are modified. Some protrusions have a reinforcing material inside to prevent cracking during bundling. Adjacent protrusions facing each other have a resin attachment portion to allow bending without load transfer. By preventing cracking and load transfer at the protrusions, short circuits are suppressed.

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Solid electrolyte composition for all-solid-state batteries that prevents interface resistance without pressurization and provides good binding properties. The composition contains an inorganic solid electrolyte and a high polymer binder made of a segmented polymer. The segmented polymer has hard and soft segments in its structure. This binder prevents resistance increases between particles and collectors in the battery. The segmented polymer binder allows the solid electrolyte to form a film without pressurization, which is needed in all-solid-state batteries.

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All-solid-state secondary battery with improved discharge capacity retention, cycle life, and stability compared to existing all-solid-state batteries. The battery uses a specific solid electrolyte composition containing a sulfide-based inorganic electrolyte, a salt of a Group I or II metal, and a multibranched polymer. The battery also enables forming the electrolyte layer between the electrodes as a separate sheet. This allows using the solid electrolyte composition as a layer-forming material in the battery. The specific composition and separate layer formation enable better interface between the electrode materials and electrolyte for improved battery performance.

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All-solid-state battery design and manufacturing method to prevent cracking and delamination in the solid electrolyte layer during charging. The method involves using hollow particles in the solid electrolyte layer that expand less than the active materials during charging. This reduces stress on the electrode interfaces and prevents gaps and cracks. The hollow particle volume in the electrolyte layer is limited to 37% or less before charging. The hollow particles can be titanium oxide or aluminum oxide.

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Compact, reliable, and mass-producible electrochemical cell unit and energy storage module design for electric vehicles. The cell unit has lithium-ion pouch cells sandwiched between a central planar element. This configuration provides compactness, reliable cell orientation, and adhesive bonding for tolerances. The module has multiple cell units stacked, contacting devices, shunts, and welded connections. The assembly method uses a multi-part tool to fix and weld the contacts while preventing cell movement.

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A method for manufacturing high-performance lithium-ion batteries with solid electrolytes that enables thin film deposition and improves battery performance compared to existing solid-state batteries. The method involves mixing a ceramic electrolyte powder with flux materials at low temperatures, shaping the mixture, and then heating it to form a dense solid electrolyte with improved lithium ion conductivity. The low-temperature processing allows depositing the solid electrolyte as thin films for battery applications. The fluxing step helps overcome challenges with solid-state synthesis of high-performance electrolyte materials like garnets that have high melting points.

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Roll-to-roll vacuum deposition system for battery anode processing with integrated metrology to monitor and control material deposition. The system has a coating module with multiple chambers arranged radially around a drum. A metrology module with side-by-side non-contact sensors measures characteristics like thickness, roughness, composition, and web flutter. This allows real-time feedback and adjustment of deposition parameters to maintain consistent coating quality and thickness. It also enables closed-loop control for applications like anode pre-lithiation and protection layer deposition.

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Electrochemical cell unit and battery module design for vehicles that reduces cost and improves reliability through optimized cell layout, connection methods, and automated assembly. The cell layout has a central planar element sandwiched between pouch cells to provide orientation and adhesion. The module uses welded busbar connectors and a stacked cell pack for electrical connection. An assembly method with a multi-part tool fixes the pack during welding to prevent movement. This allows precise and reliable welding of terminal tabs onto the busbars without additional components. The tool has aligning features on the base plate, insulation, and compression plate to brace the pack and protect non-welded areas.

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Method for assembling planar lithium polymer cells to make energy storage units for electric vehicles that reduces cost and improves performance compared to existing methods. The cells are stacked with alternating polarity, then adjacent cells with opposite polarity tabs are overlapped and welded together directly at the tab intersection instead of using separate terminals. This eliminates the need for separate welding steps and allows higher current density by avoiding resistance at the cell connections. The overlapped tab configuration also improves mechanical strength compared to separate terminals.

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Battery cells for electric vehicles that use solid electrolytes to improve safety and energy density compared to liquid electrolytes. The cells have an anode with a carbon nanotube structure that prevents dendrite formation and enhances electrical conductivity. The nanotubes have pores filled with electrolyte material to retain lithium ions. This prevents dendrite growth into the solid electrolyte and reduces short circuiting. The anode-solid electrolyte-cathode structure allows high pressure to be eliminated compared to liquid electrolyte cells.

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Automated cell stack production for batteries that allows faster, more efficient and precise stack formation compared to manual methods. The process involves feeding in material strips containing anode, cathode, separator, and optionally additional materials. The strips are cut, combined, and stacked using automated equipment. The key innovation is a second cutting step that makes a transverse cut into the combined strips. This creates transport sections with width less than 25% of the strip width. These sections are conveyed and stacked. The transverse cut enables easy handling and alignment of the narrow sections during stacking. The process allows automated, precise stack assembly without individuating and positioning separate sheets.

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Solid state Li-ion battery fabrication method using green tape lamination and sintering for scalable, cost-effective, non-flammable solid electrolyte batteries. The method involves laminating and sintering green tapes of positive electrode, separator, and negative electrode materials to form the stack without liquid electrolyte. This eliminates safety issues and capacity aging compared to liquid electrolyte cells. The green tape process enables roll-to-roll manufacturing by molding electrode, separator, and electrolyte materials into sheets that are laminated and sintered together.

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Monolithic ceramic electrochemical cell housing and manufacturing process for high energy density, solid-state lithium-ion batteries with reduced costs and improved safety compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. The housing has multiple subcells with ceramic separators, anodes, and cathodes. The anodes have 3D porous structures with interconnected electrolyte strands, pores, and electronically conducting networks. During charging, lithium forms in the pores. The manufacturing involves depositing precursor layers, sintering to form the 3D porous anode, and infusing conductive coating into the pores. This eliminates fragile layers, provides hermetic sealing, and enables lithium plating inside the anode.

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Electrode design for all-solid-state batteries with improved performance and cycle life. The electrode group has a lithium ion conductive layer containing lithium-containing inorganic particles covering the positive electrode active material-containing layer. A porous layer covers the negative electrode active material-containing layer. This configuration allows better ionic conduction between the positive and negative electrodes through the lithium ion conductive layer and porous layer. It also reduces electrode expansion/contraction mismatch and interface resistance.

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A solid electrolyte with high ionic conductivity for all-solid-state batteries and a method to prepare it. The solid electrolyte is a doped version of lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO). Gallium is doped into LLZO by adjusting the ratio of gallium precursor to lithium source in the preparation steps. This controls the crystal structure and improves sinterability. The doped LLZO solid electrolyte has higher ionic conductivity compared to undoped LLZO.

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Solid-state lithium-ion batteries with improved performance and safety compared to conventional liquid electrolyte batteries. The batteries use a composite solid electrolyte that combines crosslinked lithium-ion conducting polymers with lithium-ion conducting ceramic particles. This composite electrolyte provides high lithium-ion conductivity without the safety issues of flammable liquid electrolytes. The composite electrolyte is sandwiched between porous electrodes made of lithium-containing materials like alloys. The porous structure allows the composite electrolyte to fully impregnate the electrodes, providing high three-dimensional contact for efficient lithium ion transfer.

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A process for making thin solid-state electrolyte films for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries that avoids internal short circuits and degradation. The process involves electrophoretic deposition of electrolyte particles onto a substrate using an electric field. The particles are first suspended in a liquid medium with controlled surface charges to prevent clustering. The deposited film is then consolidated by thermal or mechanical methods. This produces dense, compact electrolyte films without defects or pores that cover the entire electrode surface. The thin films prevent internal short circuits and reduce risks of self-discharge. The electrophoretic deposition allows large area manufacturing and the consolidation steps improve film integrity.

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Solid catholyte material for solid-state batteries with improved ionic conductivity to allow higher mass loading of active material, faster charge/discharge, and wider temperature range compared to traditional solid electrolytes. The catholyte contains lithium, germanium, phosphorus, sulfur, and oxygen in a specific ratio. The oxygen level is 1:2 or less compared to sulfur to form LGPSO or LSPSO. This composition improves conductivity without adding carbon for electronic conductivity. The catholyte is confined between active material regions in the cathode to prevent reaction. The confinement prevents sulfur loss. A protective material over the catholyte maintains sulfur. The catholyte has a nanocrystalline or amorphous structure.

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An all-solid-state battery with improved energy density and cycling performance for applications like electric vehicles. The battery has an anodeless design where lithium is precipitated directly on the anode current collector instead of using an anode active material like graphite. Recesses are formed in the electrolyte layer to provide spaces for lithium to reversibly precipitate. This prevents lithium from growing in dendritic phase or isolating as moss. The recesses also prevent non-uniform lithium deposition and dissociation due to pressure variations. The recess depth is around 30-200 μm, the first coating part thickness is 0.1-1 μm, and the second coating part thickness is 0.1-10 μm.

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Solid battery design with improved characteristics and reliability for applications like electric vehicles, wearables, tools, and electronics. The battery has layers like positive electrode, negative electrode, solid electrolyte, current collector, insulator, and protection. The key innovation is that each layer contains a specific glassy material with a melting point of 500°C or less. The total glassy content in each layer is 10-60 vol%. This balance prevents excessive thermal expansion mismatch during sintering and avoids cracking, warping, or internal shorting. The glassy electrolyte allows room temperature operation.

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Energy storage module design and assembly method for automotive applications that enables high-volume, automated production with reduced costs and cycle times. The module has a stack of electrochemical cells with flat connection lugs on opposite sides. Contacting devices with comb-shaped teeth are pushed onto the lugs on one side to connect the cells. This separates the contacting function from the cell holding function. The comb-shaped teeth allow multiple lugs to be contacted simultaneously. This allows automated assembly of the modules with higher yield and lower cycle times compared to traditional manual cell insertion and wire wrapping.

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Monolithic ceramic electrochemical cell housing for high energy density, solid-state batteries with integrated electron conductive circuits that eliminates the need for separate current collectors. The housing consists of multiple subcells with anode and cathode spaces separated by ceramic electrolyte and integrated circuits. This allows full utilization of the lithium anode capacity without dendrite formation. The housing is made by converting precursor materials into a monolithic structure using additive manufacturing to eliminate physical interfaces between layers. This enables higher energy density and volumetric capacity compared to separator-based cells.

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