PUBLIC

Inability to manage thermal gradients inside a battery cell and poor manufacturing quality control are major technological limitations of the current state-of-the-art. They affect both performance and lifecycle of battery cells. This project addresses these limitations. A novel battery architecture with an internal cooling system that can readily remove heat from battery core is developed. Micro-tubes of varied cross-section are manufactured as an integral part of the current collector. The tubes contain phase change material, which acts as a heat transfer medium. In additional to minimising thermal gradients, the proposed system simplifies assembly procedure for battery packs. Furthermore, 3D-printing method is applied to sequentially deposit active material layers on the current collector foils. The introduced battery architecture results in fabrication of ultra-thick battery electrodes offering superior charge kinetics and a longer cycle life.