What are the patents for lithium-ion batteries?
Due to the safety issues of lithium metal, people have shifted their focus to lithium-intercalated anode materials. In June 1981, H. Ikeda of Sanyo Corporation first disclosed an embedded material, such as graphite, used in an organic solution in Japanese Patent No. 1769661. A year before the Ikeda graphite patent, Goodenough published a patent for the embedded cathode material LiCoO2. On the basis of this patent, s. Besu of Bell Laboratories discovered that lithium can be intercalated into graphite under room humidity, and issued US Patent 4,423,125 in 1982. I Kuribayashi and A·Yoshino first developed a new type of battery using embedded carbon anode and LiCoO2 cathode in the world, and published a patent. In 1991, based on the trial production of secondary Li-MnO2 batteries, Sony Energy Technology began to use Asahi Kasei’s patents to produce commercial batteries (lithium-ion batteries). In the battery, they introduced a protection circuit that controls charging and discharging, a device that cuts off the current when the internal pressure of the battery is too high, and a polymer diaphragm with a “shut-off” function.
Although the battery does not use lithium metal, the name “lithium ion” has been widely accepted by the battery industry worldwide. However, lithium metal deposition on the carbon negative electrode often occurs during the charging process, which may cause some problems in the lithium ion battery. Both the positive and negative electrodes of the battery will undergo a reaction of intercalation of lithium ions into the structure of the active material. AT Battery, a joint venture between Toshiba Battery and Asahi Kasei Chemical Company, is the second to commercialize Asahi Kasei’s patented technology.
The figure below shows outstanding patents in the field of lithium-ion batteries.
