Xerion scientists and collaborators demonstrated that DirectPlate™ electroplating can produce microbatteries with record-breaking energy density — unlocking longer-lasting power for the billions of internet-connected devices coming online by 2030
The number of internet-connected devices is projected to grow to 125 billion by 2030 [1]. For many applications, internet-connected devices will operate off grid and require microbatteries to store energy. As recharging or replacing these microbatteries is often impractical, the capabilities and lifetime of future internet-connected devices would greatly benefit from ultra-high energy density primary microbatteries. Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation (XABC) is commercializing a simplified manufacturing method utilizing low temperature molten-salt electroplating to produce high purity energy storage materials in their final crystalline form – ideal for high energy microbatteries. The electrodes do not contain polymeric binders or conductive additives that are required for slurry electrodes (figure 1). By controlling process parameters, a monolithic layer of cathode material can be deposited onto a variety of conductive current collectors, with controlled porosity, thickness (~1 μm to 0.5 mm), morphology, and crystalline orientation. The materials produced with this method are indistinguishable from materials made from traditional manufacturing methods (figure 2 a-d), while offering better performance and processability for a wide range of applications (figure 2 e-h). Certain cathode materials can be grown up to 500 μm thick, while still maintaining good ionic transport (figure 2 g,h). This cathode offers a number of unique opportunities in microbatteries, where packaging and the electrode current collectors dominate the mass and volume of the battery. By combining the ability to grow thick films of textured LiCoO2 (LCO) with a new integration strategy that removes unwanted packaging, we have designed and are beginning the production of microbatteries with extraordinarily high energy: 600 Wh/kg and 1600 Wh/l. This is a significant improvement over the best microbatteries and commercial coin cells [2,3]. Design iterations using empirical and simulated results enable rapid prototyping of these high energy cells. The simulations match experimental data and give insight into the excellent energy and power density performance. The high energy density is the result of the ultra-thick and dense cathode, while the high-power results from fewer interparticle boundaries and crystallographic texturing. These results show great promise towards realizing the next generation of high performance microbatteries.
