| abstract |
A Li-ion battery cell is formed from deposited thin-film layers and comprises a high-surface-area 3-D battery structure. The high-surface-area 3-D battery structure includes a fullerene-hybrid material deposited onto a surface of a conductive substrate and a conformal metallic layer deposited onto the fullerene-hybrid material. The fullerene-hybrid material is made up of chains of fullerene “onions” linked by carbon nanotubes to form a high-surface-area layer on the conductive substrate and has a “three-dimensional” surface. The conformal metallic layer acts as the active anode material in the Li-ion battery and also has a high surface area, thereby forming a high-surface-area anode. The Li-ion battery cell also includes an ionic electrolyte-separator layer, an active cathodic material layer, and a metal current collector for the cathode, each of which is deposited as a conformal thin film. |