Method of manufacturing porous current collector

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a porous current collector and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a porous current collector, which can fabricate a porous current collector in such a way as to fabricate alcohol-resolvable resin as an etch mask pattern by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin in a pattern and to form a plurality of through holes in a metal sheet using the etch mask pattern.

2. Description of the Related Art

A super capacitor or secondary cell, such as an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC), includes a current collector. A porous current collector is used as the current collector in order to prevent a reduction of the capacity or output due to a reduction of binding strength with an electrode material attributable to a change with the passage of time. A plurality of through holes is formed in the porous current collector in order to prevent binding strength of the electrode material from being reduced due to a change with the passage of time. An EDLC to which the porous current collector has been applied is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0130903 (Patent Document 1).

Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0130903 relates to the high-density electrode of an EDLC and a method of manufacturing the same. The high-density electrode of an EDLC includes a porous aluminum sheet, a plurality of first hollow protrusion members, a plurality of second hollow protrusion members, a first active material sheet, and a second active material sheet. The plurality of first hollow protrusion members is formed to be protruded to one side of the porous aluminum sheet, and the plurality of second hollow protrusion members is formed to be protruded to the other side of the porous aluminum sheet. The first active material sheet is attached to one side of the porous aluminum sheet, and the second active material sheet is attached to the other side of the porous aluminum sheet.

A porous aluminum sheet, such as that disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0130903, that is, a porous current collector, has protruding members because it is fabricated using a physical force (e.g., press) using a mold. In order to solve the problem, the porous current collector is fabricated using a photolithography process. The photolithography process has a complicated manufacturing process because it requires an exposure process using a mask pattern, and thus has a problem in that the productivity of the porous current collector may be deteriorated.

[Patent Document]

(Patent Document 1): Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0130903

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a porous current collector, which can fabricate a porous current collector in such a way as to fabricate alcohol-resolvable resin as an etch mask pattern by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin in a pattern and to form a plurality of through holes in a metal sheet using the etch mask pattern.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a porous current collector, which can reduce a manufacturing cost of a porous current collector and improve productivity because a porous current collector is fabricated in such a way as to fabricate alcohol-resolvable resin as an etch mask pattern by printing polyhydric alcohol in a pattern and to form a plurality of through holes in a metal sheet using the etch mask pattern.

A method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of forming an alcohol-resolvable resin layer by coating alcohol-resolvable resin on a surface of a metal sheet, forming an alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer after the alcohol-resolvable resin layer is formed, and etching the metal sheet so that a plurality of through holes is formed in the metal sheet using the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer as a mask after the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer is formed.

The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a process flow showing a method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a table showing a cross-sectional view according to a first embodiment of the method of manufacturing a porous current collector shown in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the state in which polyhydric alcohol has been printed on an alcohol-resolvable resin layer shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the state in which the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer shown in FIG. 2 has been formed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the porous current collector shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 6 is a table showing a cross-sectional view according to a second embodiment of the method of manufacturing a porous current collector shown in FIG. 1 .

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Exemplary embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

Hereinafter, methods of manufacturing a porous current collector according to embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As show in FIGS. 1 and 2 , in a method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, an alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed by coating alcohol-resolvable resin on a surface of a metal sheet 110 (S 10 ). After the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed, an alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is formed by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 (S 20 ). After the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is formed, the metal sheet 110 is etched using the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a as a mask so that a plurality of through holes 111 is formed in the metal sheet 110 (S 30 ).

The method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention is described in more detail below.

In step S 10 of forming the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 , first, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the metal sheet 110 is prepared (S 11 ). That is, the metal sheet 110 shown in step S 11 of FIG. 2 is prepared. The metal sheet 110 shown in step S 11 of FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of the metal sheet 110 shown in FIG. 3 . One of aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and chrome (Cr) or a mixture of two or more materials of aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and chrome (Cr) is used as the material of the metal sheet 110 . In this case, FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of a method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

After the metal sheet 110 is prepared, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed by coating the alcohol-resolvable resin on a surface of the metal sheet 110 (S 12 ). After the metal sheet 110 is prepared as in step S 12 of FIG. 2 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed by coating the alcohol-resolvable resin on a surface of one side of the metal sheet 110 (S 1 ). After the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed on a surface of one side of the metal sheet 110 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed by coating alcohol-resolvable resin on a surface of the other side opposite one side of the metal sheet 110 (S 2 ). In this case, the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 shown in step S 1 and step S 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 .

In steps S 1 and S 2 of forming the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 by coating the alcohol-resolvable resin on the surface of one side or the other side of the metal sheet 110 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed by mixing the alcohol-resolvable resin 5 to 50 wt % and a solvent 50 to 95 wt %. In this case, one of hydroxy polyester resin, arcylic resin, novolac resin and polyhydroxysterene is used as the alcohol-resolvable resin, and propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA) is used as the solvent.

After the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed on the metal sheet 110 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is dried by thermal treatment (S 13 ) as shown in FIG. 1 . In step S 13 of drying the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 by thermal treatment, the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is dried in order to make volatile the solvent through the thermal treatment, and thermal treatment conditions are performed at a temperature of 50 to 200° C. for 10 to 60 seconds. That is, the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed by mixing the alcohol-resolvable resin 5 to 50 wt % and the solvent 50 to 95 wt %. Accordingly, in order to make volatile the solvent by drying the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 , the thermal treatment is performed on the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 at a temperature of 50 to 200° C. for 10 to 60 seconds.

After the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is dried, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , step S 20 of forming the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is performed. In step S 20 of forming the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a , a plurality of through holes 121 is formed in the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a . The plurality of through holes 121 is formed to penetrate the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 so that a surface of the metal sheet 110 is exposed.

In order to form the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a in which the plurality of through holes 121 has been formed, first, after the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed as in step S 21 of FIGS. 1 and 2 , a polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 is formed by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 (S 21 ). As in step S 21 of FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 , the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 is formed on one of the surfaces of the alcohol-resolvable resin layers 120 formed on the surfaces of one side and the other side of the metal sheet 110 . For example, if the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 is formed on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 formed on a surface of one side of the metal sheet 110 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 formed on a surface of the other side of the metal sheet 110 is used to protect the surface of the other side of the metal sheet 110 when the metal sheet 110 is etched. In this case, a plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 of the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 is spaced apart and formed on the surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 . Only one of glycerin (or glycerine) and ethylene glycol is used as polyhydric alcohol. Glycerin or ethylene glycol has viscosity of 800 to 1500 centi Poise (cps), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is added to ethylene glycol so that ethylene glycol has viscosity of 800 to 1500 cps, thereby being capable of forming the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 using printing. The polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 shown in step S 21 of FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 .

After the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 is formed, as in step S 22 of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is etched by performing thermal treatment on the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 , thereby forming the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a (S 22 ). The plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 indicated by alternate long and short dash lines in step S 22 of FIG. 2 shows the state in which polyhydric alcohol has reacted to one of glycerin and ethylene glycol and the alcohol-resolvable resin by thermal treatment. That is, the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 of the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 reacts to the alcohol-resolvable resin of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 by the thermal treatment and etches the alcohol-resolvable resin located in accordance with a region in which the cylindrical pattern 131 has been located. Accordingly, the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a having the plurality of through holes 121 is formed. In this case, the thermal treatment is performed at a temperature of 50 to 200° C. for 10 to 60 seconds.

After the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is formed, the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is washed using pure water as in FIGS. 1 and 2 (S 23 ). For example, after the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is formed, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) used for viscosity of glycerin or ethylene glycol used as polyhydric alcohol is removed by washing. Accordingly, the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 indicated by alternate long and short dash lines in step S 22 of FIG. 2 is removed so that only the metal sheet 110 and the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a remain as in step S 23 of FIG. 2 . In this case, the resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a shown in step S 23 of FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 4 .

In step S 30 of performing etching so that the plurality of through holes 111 is formed in the metal sheet 110 , as in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , first, after the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is formed, the metal sheet 110 is etched by an etching solution so that the metal sheet 110 is penetrated using the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a as a mask (S 31 ). In this case, one of hydrogen chloride (HCl), nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and ferric chloride (FeCl 2 ) is used as the etching solution. After the metal sheet 110 is penetrated, the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is removed by etching (S 32 ). The alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is fabricated as shown in step S 32 of FIG. 2 by removing the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a using caustic soda (NaOH) or an alkaline solution. In this case, the metal sheet 110 shown in step S 32 of FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of the metal sheet 110 in which the plurality of through holes 111 shown in FIG. 5 has been formed.

Another embodiment, that is, a second embodiment of the method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention, is shown in FIG. 6 .

In the method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6 , step S 10 of forming the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 by coating alcohol-resolvable resin on a surface of the metal sheet 110 and step S 30 of etching the metal sheet 110 using the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a as a mask so that the plurality of through holes 111 is formed in the metal sheet 110 after the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is formed are the same as those of the method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to the first embodiment, and thus a description thereof is omitted.

In the method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention, after the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 according to the second embodiment is formed, in step S 20 of forming the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 , the polyhydric alcohol pattern layers 130 are formed by printing polyhydric alcohol on surfaces of one side and the other side of the alcohol-resolvable resin layers 120 (S 21 ). In the polyhydric alcohol pattern layers 130 formed on the surfaces of one side and the other side of the alcohol-resolvable resin layers 120 , the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 is spaced apart and formed on the surfaces of the alcohol-resolvable resin layers 120 . The plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 formed on the surface of one side of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is formed at locations corresponding to the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 formed on the surface of the other side of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 as in step S 21 of FIG. 6 . The alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 may be formed in a rectangle or polygonal pattern (not shown) in addition to the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 .

Only one of glycerin and ethylene glycol is used as polyhydric alcohol used to form the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 . Such glycerin or ethylene glycol has viscosity of 800 to 1500 cps as in the first embodiment of FIG. 2 . Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is added to ethylene glycol so that ethylene glycol has viscosity of 800 to 1500 cps, thereby being capable of forming the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 using printing.

After the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 is formed, as in step S 22 of FIG. 6 , the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is etched by performing thermal treatment on the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 , thereby forming the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layers 120 a on surfaces of one side and the other side of the metal sheet 110 (S 22 ). In step S 22 of FIG. 2 , the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 indicated by alternate long and short dash lines shows the state in which polyhydric alcohol has reacted to one of glycerin and ethylene glycol and alcohol-resolvable resin by the thermal treatment. That is, the plurality of cylindrical patterns 131 of the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 reacts to the alcohol-resolvable resin on the surfaces of the one side and the other sides of the alcohol-resolvable resin layers 120 by the thermal treatment. Accordingly, the alcohol-resolvable resin located in accordance with the region in which the cylindrical pattern 131 has been formed is etched to form the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a having the plurality of through holes 121 . In this case, conditions in which the thermal treatment is performed the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 are performed at a temperature of 100 to 150° C. for 10 to 60 seconds.

After the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layers 120 a are formed on the surfaces of one side and the other side of the metal sheet 110 , the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layers 120 a are washed using pure water (S 23 ). For example, after the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layers 120 a are formed, PVA used for viscosity of glycerin or ethylene glycol used as polyhydric alcohol is removed by washing. Accordingly, the polyhydric alcohol pattern layer 130 indicated by the alternate long and short dash lines in step S 22 of FIG. 2 is removed so that only the metal sheet 110 and the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layers 120 a remain as in step S 23 of FIG. 6 . Thereafter, step S 30 of etching the metal sheet 110 so that the plurality of through holes 111 is formed in the metal sheet 110 is the same as that described above, and a description thereof is omitted.

In step S 30 of etching the metal sheet 110 so that the plurality of through holes 111 is formed according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, if the metal sheet 110 is made of an aluminum (Al) material, 6 to 8M (molarity) hydrogen chloride (HCl) is used as an etching solution, so a porous current collector having an opening ratio of 1 to 30% can be fabricated in the metal sheet 110 made of aluminum (Al). If the metal sheet 110 is made of a copper (Cu) material, it is processed for 5 to 20 seconds using nitric acid (HNO 3 ) of a 20 to 40% concentration using an etching solution, thereby being capable of fabricating a porous current collector having an opening ratio of 1 to 30% in the metal sheet 110 made of the copper (Cu) material. In this case, a known method is applied to the calculation of the opening ratio and a description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 5 , the porous current collector has the state in which the plurality of through holes 111 has been formed in the metal sheet 110 .

As described above, in the method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention, the alcohol-resolvable mask pattern layer 120 a is printed on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 formed using alcohol-resolvable resin in a pattern using polyhydric alcohol. After the alcohol-resolvable resin layer 120 is fabricated to have an etch mask pattern, the plurality of through holes is formed in the metal sheet using the etch mask pattern, thereby fabricating the porous current collector. Accordingly, a manufacturing cost of the porous current collector can be reduced and productivity can be improved.

The method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to the industrial fields for manufacturing a super capacitor and secondary cell, such as an EDLC.

In the method of manufacturing a porous current collector according to an embodiment of the present invention, after the alcohol-resolvable resin is fabricated in an etch mask pattern by printing polyhydric alcohol on a surface of the alcohol-resolvable resin, the plurality of through holes is formed in the metal sheet using the etch mask pattern, thereby fabricating the porous current collector. Accordingly, a manufacturing cost of the porous current collector can be reduced and productivity can be improved.