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Lithium Batteries with Crystalline LiCoO₂ Cathodes

These are the best choice for applications requiring current densities in excess of about 50 µA/cm². The LiCoO₂ films up to 4µm thick are deposited by rf magnetron sputtering of LiCoO₂ and then annealed at 700°C for 2 hours. As illustrated in the figures below, better than 50% of the cathode is utilized at continuous discharge rates of more than 3 mA/cm². For most cells, the resistance is dominated by the Lipon electrolyte.

Some other features of Li-LiCoO₂ thin film batteries:

• They are capable of supplying high pulse currents.
• They can be connected in series or parallel to make batteries with higher voltages and/or capacities.
• They can be cycled thousands of times with small loss of capacity.
• They can operate at low temperatures.
• They can be recharged to >90% capacity in less than 20 minutes.

Discharge curves at different current densities for a 1 cm² x 2.5 µm LiCoO₂ cathode. These discharge curves correspond to C-rates up to 25.

Capacity and energy vs. current density for cycling between 4.2 V and 3.0 V at 25°C.

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Date revised - 3/17/00 (njd)
 http://www.ssd.ornl.gov/BatteryWeb/cLiCoO2.html