Abstract: Positive electrodes for secondary batteries formed with a plurality of substantially aligned flakes within a coating. The flakes can be formed from metal oxide materials and have a number average longest dimension of greater than 60 ?m. A variety of metal oxide or metal phosphate materials may be selected such as a group consisting of LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, Li(M1x1M2x2Co1-x1-x2)O2 where M1 and M2 are selected from among Li, Ni, Mn, Cr, Ti, Mg, or Al, 0?x1?0.5 and 0?x2?0.5, or alternatively, LiM1(1-x)MnxO2 where 0<x<0.8 and M1 represents one or more metal elements. Methods for making positive electrode materials are also provided involving the formation of structures with a desired longest dimension, preferably polycrystalline flakes. A cathode coating containing polycrystalline flakes may be deposited onto a conductive substrate and pressed to a desired final electrode thickness.

Abstract: Systems and methods for configuring tabs on a rechargeable battery may include a current collector comprising one or more collector foil and one or more tabs connected to the collector foil for conveying generated current from the current collector. The tabs may be configured to extract greater capacity from the battery electrodes so that the resulting battery may exhibit higher performance. The tabs may be configured so that the length of the tab is greater than the height of the collector foil so the tab may cover the height of the collector foil and may protrude from the foil.