| abstract |
Presented are electrochemical devices with copper-free electrodes, methods of making/using such devices, and lithium alloy-based electrode ashes and current collectors for lithium-class rechargeable battery cells. One method of making copper-free electrodes involves feeding an aluminum workpiece, such as a B. a strip of aluminum sheet, in a masking device. The masking device then applies a series of dielectric masks, e.g. B. strips of epoxy resin or dielectric tape, to discrete areas of the workpiece to form a masked aluminum workpiece in which masked areas are interleaved with unmasked areas. The masked workpiece is then placed in an electrolytic anodizing solution such as sulfuric acid, to form an anodized aluminum workpiece with anodized surface portions on the unmasked areas interleaved with non-anodized surface portions beneath the dielectric masks of the masked areas. The dielectric masks are removed to expose the non-anodized surface portions and the anodized aluminum workpiece is segmented into multiple copper-free electrodes. |