Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure include an electrode coating having a spatially varied porosity and a method of forming the same by using a porous current collector. An exemplary method can include forming a porous current collector having a bulk material and a plurality of voids. The porous current collector can be coated, infused, or otherwise saturated with an electrode coating having an active electrode material. The porous current collector and the electrode coating can be compressed in a calendering process to define the electrode film. The distribution of the plurality of voids in the porous current collector provides for regions of different calendering pressures during the calendering process. The regions of different calendering pressures leads to regions of higher and lower porosity in the resultant electrode film. In other words, an electrode film having a spatially varied porosity.

Abstract: A method of analyzing the quality of a battery cell includes performing a high-throughput quality check on the battery cell with a quality control system, assessing a quality score to the battery cell, with quality score identifying the battery cell as low-quality or high-quality, and performing a comprehensive quality check on the battery cell if identified as low-quality. The method further includes assessing an enhanced quality score to the battery cell superseding the quality score of the quality control system identifying the battery cell as confirmed low-quality or confirmed high-quality and providing revised production instructions for manufacturing successive battery cells if confirmed low-quality.

Abstract: A quality control system analyzes the quality of a battery cell, with the battery cell defining a gas pouch configured to be filled with a gas. The quality control system includes a computational system including a processor and a memory, a manifold defining a passageway extending between an inlet port for receiving the gas and an outlet port, and at least one sensor in electronic communication with the computational system. The sensor is arranged to measure a physical property of the gas and transmit a signal to the computational system corresponding to the physical property of the gas. The computational system analyzes the physical property of the gas, accesses a threshold value corresponding to the physical property, compares the physical property to the threshold value, and assess a quality score for the battery cell. A corresponding method analyzes the quality of the battery cell with the quality control system.