{
  "patent_number": "US 11239459",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Making Solid-State Battery Electrodes That Don't Swell and Crack",
  "original_title": "Low-expansion composite electrodes for all-solid-state batteries",
  "summary": "This patent describes a special design for solid-state battery electrodes that uses tiny internal holes and spaces between particles to prevent them from expanding and cracking during charging and discharging.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a composite electrode for all-solid-state batteries, which are a new type of battery that uses solid materials instead of liquids. The electrode is made of \"solid-state electroactive material particles\" that change size when the battery charges and discharges, and \"solid-state electrolyte particles\" mixed in (Claim 1). The clever part is that each electroactive particle has \"internal pores formed therein,\" like tiny sponges. There are also spaces, called \"interparticle porosity,\" between the electroactive and electrolyte particles (Claim 1). These internal pores and interparticle spaces work together to absorb the expansion and contraction of the electroactive material, preventing the electrode from swelling outwards, cracking, or falling apart (Abstract, Claim 1). For example, an electrode might use silicon particles with 10% to 75% internal porosity, mixed with solid electrolyte particles, leaving 5% to 40% space between them (Claim 2, Abstract).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover electrodes for traditional lithium-ion batteries that use liquid electrolytes.",
    "Does not cover solid-state electrodes that lack both internal pores within the electroactive particles and interparticle porosity between the electroactive and electrolyte particles.",
    "Does not cover electrodes where the electroactive material is a solid block without a network of internal pores.",
    "Does not cover battery chemistries that do not cycle lithium ions, as the patent specifically mentions \"cycles lithium ions\" (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover electrodes where the solid-state electroactive material and solid-state electrolyte are not in particle form and intermingled."
  ],
  "filed": "2018-10-18",
  "granted": "2022-02-01",
  "expires": "2038-10-18",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "GM Global Technology Operations",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/gm-global-technology-operations",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Mei Cai",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/mei-cai"
    },
    {
      "name": "Thomas A. Yersak",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/thomas-a-yersak"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 6,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "energy",
    "materials",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "semiconductors"
  ],
  "abstract": "A composite electrode for use in an all-solid-state electrochemical cell that cycles lithium ions is provided. The composite electrode comprises a solid-state electroactive material that undergoes volumetric expansion and contraction during cycling of the electrochemical cell and a solid-state electrolyte. The solid-state electroactive material is in the form of a plurality of particles and each particle has a plurality of internal pores formed therewithin. Each particle has an average porosity ranging from about 10% to about 75%, and the composite electrode has an interparticle porosity between the solid-state electroactive material and solid-state electrolyte particles ranging from about 5% to about 40%. The intraparticle pores and the interparticle porosity accommodate the volumetric expansion and contraction of the solid-state electroactive material so to minimize outward expansion of the electroactive particles, micro-cracking of the solid-state electrolyte, and delamination within the electrochemical cell.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11239459/low-expansion-composite-electrodes-for-all-solid-state-batteries",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11239459/low-expansion-composite-electrodes-for-all-solid-state-batteries/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11239459",
  "relatedPatents": [
    {
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      "countryCode": "US",
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    },
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}