Aluminium Rods As Current Collectors and Electrodes for 3D Li-Ion Micro-Batteries

The microelectronics industry has advanced at a rapid pace in the last decade. Further advancements are hampered by the lack of suitable on-board power devices. Although Li-ion batteries are the primary choice for energy storage, they cannot store enough energy per foot-print area without compromising power capability. Three-dimensional Li-ion batteries could offer the solution by using all three dimensions for efficient energy storage on a relatively small foot-print area.

Aluminium rods were obtained by template assisted galvanostatic deposition of aluminium into the pores of a commercial membrane. By the subsequent chemical dissolution of the membrane, free standing arrays of aluminium rods deposited on an aluminium substrate were obtained. It was shown that the use of a nucleation pulse prior to deposition led to a homogeneous deposition of aluminium rods, while the use of pulsed current rather than constant current resulted in a narrower distribution of the rods heights [1].

Aluminium is used as a current collector in Li-ion batteries. The deposition of TiO₂ onto the aluminium rods was done by means of electrophoresis and a sol-gel derived impregnation method. While the electrophoretic deposition resulted in non-conformal coated rods, the impregnation method gave a thin amorphous deposit which could be cycled against lithium [2].

Finally, aluminium can be used as a negative active material, as it alloys with lithium. A study of the alloying and dealloying of lithium and aluminium was done on the 3D aluminium rods and a model for the lithiation and delithiation of aluminium has been proposed [3]. The aluminium rods were used as a negative electrode in a Li-ion battery against LiFePO₄ coated on carbon foam positive electrode in a 3D cell with different geometries of the two electrodes [4].

References:

[1] G. Oltean, L. Nyholm, K. Edström, Electrochim. Acta, 56 (2011) 3203.

[2] G. Oltean, M. Valvo, L. Nyholm, K. Edström, Thin Solid Films, 562 (2014) 63.

[3] G. Oltean, C.-W. Tai, K. Edström, L. Nyholm, J. Power Sources, 269 (2014) 266.

[4] G. Oltean, H.D. Asfaw, L. Nyholm, K. Edström, ECS Electrochem. Lett, 3 (2014) A54.