Thin film rechargeable lithium battery

The thin film lithium-ion battery is a form of solid-state battery. Its development is motivated by the prospect of combining the advantages of solid-state batteries with the advantages of thin-film manufacturing processes. The thin film lithium-ion battery is a form of solid-state battery. Its development is motivated by the prospect of combining the advantages of solid-state batteries with the advantages of thin-film manufacturing processes. Thin-film construction could lead to improvements in specific energy, energy density, and power density on top of the gains from using a solid electrolyte. It allows for flexible cells only a few microns thick. It may also reduce manufacturing costs from scalable roll-to-roll processing and even allow for the use of cheap materials. Lithium-ion batteries store chemical energy in reactive chemicals at the anodes and cathodes of a cell. Typically, anodes and cathodes exchange lithium (Li+) ions through a fluid electrolyte that passes through a porous separator which prevents direct contact between the anode and cathode. Such contact would lead to an internal short circuit and a potentially hazardous uncontrolled reaction. Electric current is usually carried by conductive collectors at the anodes and cathodes to and from the negative and positive terminals of the cell (respectively). In a thin-film lithium battery the electrolyte is solid and the other components are deposited in layers on a substrate. In some designs, the solid electrolyte also serves as a separator. Cathode materials in thin film lithium ion batteries are the same as in classical lithium ion batteries. They are normally metal oxides that are deposited as a film by various methods. Metal oxide materials are shown below as well as their relative specific capacities (Λ), open circuit voltages (Voc), and energy densities (DE).