12. Bipolar Madness

2005 Amine: wound bipolar cells US6858345B2

2013 Nissan: non metallic bipolar current collector US8445139B2

2014 Nissan: no bubbles US8734984

2016 CEA: U shaped wind/stack hybrid US9318748

2018 CEA: copolymer, temp dependent US10044068

Monopolar (left) vs bipolar (right) battery cell design

A bipolar design solves a major problem in lithium ion batteries: fast charging. Typical commercial cells have a monopolar design which means that each current collector has either a cathode or an anode applied on either side. By contrast, a bipolar design has both the anode and cathode applied to opposite sides of the same current collector. In this podcast, I explain how this design lowers battery resistance and increases energy density. I also discuss several patents which claim solutions to some of the challenges of bipolar designs.

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