BATTERY SEPARATOR WITH INTEGRAL THERMAL FUSE

摘要

A battery separator includes a porous substrate (12a) and a thermal fuse material (12b) adhered to at least one surface of said porous substrate. The thermal fuse material is adhered to the substrate surface in a predetermined geometric array thereupon so as to establish open areas of the at least one substrate surface to thereby allow ionic migration therethrough. The thermal fuse material forming the geometric array on the substrate surface may itself define open pores to further facilitate such ionic migration. The thermal fuse material melts at or near a predetermined threshold temperature so that the substrate's permeability irreversibly becomes significantly decreased and thus interrupts the chemical reaction in an electrochemical battery. In such a manner, batteries of improved safety may be provided using the separators of this invention.