Tab-to-Busbar Interconnects Formed by Dual Flow Cold Spraying

Abstract

Battery manufacturing involves a large number of individual cells arranged in modules configured within a battery pack and connected either in series and/or parallel to deliver the required power and driving range. Cells within a module are linked using a tab-to-busbar connection as the electrical interconnect. Therefore, a battery pack contains a plurality of tab-to-busbar joints, and each must provide low electrical resistivity connection to minimize losses that may reduce the effective performance of the battery. In this work, the Dual Flow Cold Spray (DFCS) process, a modification of low-pressure cold spraying, was used to form low resistivity Cu+10%Zn and Al+10% Zn tab-to-busbar interconnects. As test coupons, 0.8 mm thick copper (Cu) was used to represent the busbar while 0.3 mm thick aluminum and nickel coated copper foils represented the respective electrode tabs. Low resistivity joint interconnects (≈100 μΩ) with high adhesion strength (≈120 MPa) have been formed. The influence of busbar surface preprocessing on the resistivity of the tab-to-busbar joints has been studied.