US 11,984,576 B1
Alkali-metal anode with alloy coating applied by friction
James M. Tour, Bellaire, TX (US); Rodrigo Villegas Salvatierra, Houston, TX (US); and Duy Xuan Luong, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to William Marsh Rice University, Houston, TX (US)
Filed by William Marsh Rice University, Houston, TX (US)
Filed on Oct. 1, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/061,223.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/909,062, filed on Oct. 1, 2019.
Int. Cl. H01M 4/04 (2006.01); H01M 4/134 (2010.01); H01M 4/1395 (2010.01); H01M 4/36 (2006.01); H01M 4/38 (2006.01); H01M 4/62 (2006.01); H01M 10/052 (2010.01); H01M 4/02 (2006.01)
CPC H01M 4/0402 (2013.01) [H01M 4/043 (2013.01); H01M 4/134 (2013.01); H01M 4/1395 (2013.01); H01M 4/366 (2013.01); H01M 4/382 (2013.01); H01M 4/628 (2013.01); H01M 10/052 (2013.01); H01M 2004/027 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of fabricating an anode having a coating on a surface of an alkali metal, the method comprising:
(a) texturizing the surface of the alkali metal; and
(b) smoothing the texturized surface of the alkali metal by a process comprising
(i) applying a material under pressure to the texturized surface of the alkali metal, and
(ii) moving the applied material relative to the texturized surface of the alkali metal under pressure to produce a friction, wherein the friction alloys the material with the alkali metal to produce the coating on the surface of the alkali metal.