Controlled porosity in electrodes

摘要

Porous electrodes in which the porosity has a low tortuosity are generally provided. In some embodiments, the porous electrodes can be designed to be filled with electrolyte and used in batteries, and can include low tortuosity in the primary direction of ion transport during charge and discharge of the battery. In some embodiments, the electrodes can have a high volume fraction of electrode active material (i.e., low porosity). The attributes outlined above can allow the electrodes to be fabricated with a higher energy density, higher capacity per unit area of electrode (mAh/cm2), and greater thickness than comparable electrodes while still providing high utilization of the active material in the battery during use. Accordingly, the electrodes can be used to produce batteries with high energy densities, high power, or both compared to batteries using electrodes of conventional design with relatively highly tortuous pores.

主权项

1. An electrode, comprising:
a matrix material comprising high-tortuosity pores having tortuosities of at least 2; and a plurality of low-tortuosity pores having tortuosities of less than 1.5 extending through the matrix material and from a first external geometric surface of the electrode to a second external geometric surface of the electrode, wherein: the electrode has a total porosity of from 20% to 60%, and the percentage of the total porosity that is occupied by the low-tortuosity pores is from 20% to 80%.