US Patent 8980485 Rechargeable, thin-film, all solid-state metal-air battery

This disclosure describes metal-air battery devices that are rechargeable, thin film, and all solid-state. The disclosure further describes methods of manufacturing rechargeable, thin film, all solid-state, metal-air batteries. The devices disclosed include a porous cathode structure with an electrolyte incorporated therein. The porous cathode structure may be designed to contain pores of at least two distinct sizes (i.e., having bimodal pore size distribution), a smaller one to increase the active surface area of the cathode and a larger to facilitate the transport of gas-phase oxygen through the cathode. The methods disclosed include using pulsed microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (p-μPECVD) to dynamically grow an electrolyte layer on the surface of the carbon within, or a desired portion of, the cathode structure.