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A battery comprises at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface. A thermoplastic material covers the surface of the battery cell, the thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen perme

A battery comprises at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface. A thermoplastic material covers the surface of the battery cell, the thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day). A cap covers the thermoplastic material.

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1. A battery comprising: (a) at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) a thermoplastic material on the surface of the battery cell, the thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxyg

1. A battery comprising: (a) at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) a thermoplastic material on the surface of the battery cell, the thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(c) a cap covering the thermoplastic material, the cap being positioned over the battery cell to maintain a separation gap with the battery cell. 2. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day). 3. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 4. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises poly(vinylidene chloride), thermoplastic polyurethanes, parylene, latex or mixtures thereof. 5. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises a thickness of less than 50 microns. 6. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the battery cell comprises edges, and comprising an external coating covering at least a portion of the edges of the battery cell. 7. A battery according to claim 6 wherein the external coating is composed of poly(vinylidene chloride). 8. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the battery cell comprises lithium. 9. A battery according to claim 1 comprising a wrap around seal comprising metal foil. 10. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the cap extends flat across the entire width and length of the battery cell. 11. A battery according to claim 1 wherein the separation gap is at least partially filled with the thermoplastic material. 12. A battery fabrication process comprising: (a) fabricating at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) selecting a thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(c) forming a protective package around the battery cell by laminating the surface of the battery cell to the thermoplastic material and a cap, the cap being positioned over the battery cell to maintain a separation gap with the surface of the battery cell. 13. A method according to claim 12 wherein (c) comprises laminating the thermoplastic material to the cap to form a laminated thermoplastic cap, and thereafter, laminating the laminated thermoplastic cap to the battery cell. 14. A method according to claim 12 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises PVDC, polyurethane, parylene, latex or mixtures thereof. 15. A method according to claim 12 wherein (c) comprises coating the cap with a liquid layer of thermoplastic material to form a laminated thermoplastic cap, and thereafter, laminating the laminated thermoplastic cap to the battery cell. 16. A method according to claim 12 wherein (c) comprises coating the battery cell with a liquid thermoplastic material to form a thermoplastic coated battery cell, and thereafter, laminating the cap to the thermoplastic coated battery cell. 17. A method according to claim 12 comprising providing a cap that extends flat across the entire width and length of the battery cell. 18. A battery according to claim 12 comprising at least partially filling the separation gap with a thermoplastic material. 19. A method according to claim 12 wherein (a) comprises fabricating a battery cell comprising lithium. 20. A battery comprising: (a) at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) a first polymer layer on the surface of the battery cell, the first polymer comprising a thermoset polymer, and a second polymer layer on the first polymer layer, the second polymer comprising a thermoplastic polymer, the first and second polymer layers each comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability through the thickness of the polymer layer that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(c) a cap covering the first and second polymer layers, the cap being positioned over the battery cell to maintain a separation gap with the surface of the battery cell. 21. A battery according to claim 20 wherein the total water permeability of the first and second polymer layers is less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day). 22. A battery according to claim 20 wherein the first polymer layer comprises polyethylene (PE) and the second polymer layer comprises ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). 23. A battery according to claim 20 wherein the first polymer comprises thermoset polyurethane and the second polymer comprises PVDC. 24. A battery according to claim 23 wherein the thermoset polyurethane comprises an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 25. A battery according to claim 20 wherein the battery cell comprises lithium. 26. A battery according to claim 20 comprising a wrap around seal comprising metal foil. 27. A method according to claim 20 wherein (b) comprises selecting a thermoplastic polymer having an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 28. A method according to claim 20 wherein (b) comprises selecting a thermoplastic polymer comprising poly(vinylidene chloride), polyurethane, parylene, latex, or mixtures thereof. 29. A battery fabrication process comprising: (a) fabricating at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) applying a liquid polymer layer to, the surface of the battery cell to form a polymer layer comprising: (i) a nitrogen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day);(ii) an oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(iii) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day); and(c) laminating a cap to the polymer layer on the surface of the battery cell. 30. A process according to claim 29 wherein the polymer layer comprises PVDC, parylene, latex or polyurethane. 31. A process according to claim 29 wherein the cap comprises a metal foil. 32. A process according to claim 29 wherein (c) further comprises providing a thermoset polymer between the surface of the battery cell and the laminated cap. 33. A process according to claim 32 wherein the thermoset polymer comprises thermoset polyurethane having an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 34. A process according to claim 29 wherein in (b) the polymer layer comprises a thermoset polymer. 35. A process according to claim 34 wherein the thermoset polymer comprises thermoset polyurethane having an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 36. A method according to claim 29 wherein (b) comprises selecting a polymer layer comprising a thermoplastic material. 37. A method according to claim 36 comprising selecting a thermoplastic material having a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day). 38. A battery fabrication process comprising: (a) fabricating at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) selecting a cap;(c) forming a polymer coated battery cell by coating a surface of the battery cell with a thermoset polymer comprising: (i) a nitrogen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day);(ii) an oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(iii) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day); and(d) laminating the cap to the thermoset polymer coated battery cell, the cap being positioned over the battery cell to maintain a separation gap with the surface of the battery cell. 39. A process according to claim 38 wherein the cap comprises a metal foil. 40. A battery comprising: (a) at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) a thermoset material on the surface of the battery cell, the thermoset material comprising a thermoset polyurethane having: (i) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day);(ii) an elastic modulus of less than 2 GPa; and(iii) a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability of less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(c) a cap covering the surface of the thermoset material, the cap being positioned over the battery cell to maintain a separation gap with the battery cell. 41. A battery according to claim 40 wherein the thermoset polyurethane comprises an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 42. A battery according to claim 40 wherein the cap is composed of a metal foil, ceramic or mica. 43. A battery according to claim 40 further comprising a thermoplastic polymer about a periphery of the battery cell. 44. A battery according to claim 40 wherein the battery cell comprises lithium. 45. A battery according to claim 40 comprising a wrap around seal comprising metal foil. 46. A battery comprising: (a) a substrate comprising a first surface comprising a first battery cell having a surface with a central portion and a peripheral portion;(b) a first polymer covering the central portion of the surface;(c) a second polymer covering the peripheral portion of the surface, the second polymer being a different polymer than the first polymer; and(d) a cap covering the exposed surface of the first and second polymers. 47. A battery according to claim 46 wherein the first polymer comprises an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 48. A battery according to claim 47 wherein the second polymer comprises at least one of: (i) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day);(ii) a nitrogen permeability of less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(iii) an oxygen permeability of less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day). 49. A battery according to claim 46 wherein the first polymer comprises surlyn or polyurethane and the second polymer comprises epoxy or PVDC. 50. A battery according to claim 46 wherein the first polymer comprises thermoset polyurethane. 51. A battery according to claim 46 wherein the second polymer comprises PVDC. 52. A battery according to claim 46 comprising a wrap around seal comprising metalfoil. 53. A battery fabrication process comprising: (a) fabricating at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte;(b) selecting a thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(c) laminating the thermoplastic material to a cap to form a laminated thermoplastic cap, and thereafter, laminating the laminated thermoplastic cap to the battery cell. 54. A process according to claim 53 wherein (b) comprises selecting a thermoplastic material having at least one of the following properties: (i) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day);(ii) an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa;(iii) a thickness of less than 50 microns and(iv) the thermoplastic material comprises poly(vinylidene chloride), thermoplastic polyurethanes, latex, or mixtures thereof. 55. A process according to claim 53 wherein in (c), the cap comprises metal, ceramic or polymer. 56. A process according to claim 53 wherein (a) comprises fabricating a battery cell comprising lithium. 57. A battery fabrication process comprising: (a) fabricating at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte;(b) selecting a thermoplastic material comprising a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(c) coating a cap with a liquid layer of thermoplastic material to form a laminated thermoplastic cap, and thereafter, laminating the laminated thermoplastic cap to the battery cell. 58. A process according to claim 57 wherein (b) comprises selecting a thermoplastic material having at least one of the following properties: (i) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day);(ii) an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa;(iii) a thickness of less than 50 microns; and(iv) the thermoplastic material comprises poly(vinylidene chloride), thermoplastic polyurethanes, latex, or mixtures thereof. 59. A process according to claim 57 wherein in (c), the cap comprises metal, ceramic or polymer. 60. A process according to claim 57 wherein (a) comprises fabricating a battery cell comprising lithium. 61. A battery comprising: (a) a substrate comprising a first surface comprising a battery cell having a central portion and a peripheral portion;(b) a first polymer composed of thermoset polyurethane covering the central portion, the first polymer having an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa; and(c) a second polymer composed of PVDC covering the peripheral portion, the second polymer having an oxygen permeability of less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day). 62. A battery according to claim 61 comprising a wrap around seal comprising metal foil. 63. A battery according to claim 61 comprising a cap composed of a metal, ceramic or mica. 64. A battery according to claim 61 wherein the battery cell comprises lithium. 65. A battery comprising: (a) at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) a thermoplastic material on the surface of the battery cell, the thermoplastic material comprising: (i) a nitrogen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day);(ii) an oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day); and(iii) a water permeability of less than 4 g*mm/(m2*day); and(c) a cap covering the thermoplastic material, the cap being positioned over the battery cell to maintain a separation gap with the surface of the battery cell. 66. A battery according to claim 65 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises an elastic modulus of less than 1 GPa. 67. A battery according to claim 65 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises poly(vinylidene chloride), polyurethane, parylene, latex, or mixtures thereof. 68. A battery according to claim 65 wherein the battery cell comprises lithium. 69. A battery fabrication process comprising: (a) fabricating at least one battery cell on a support, the battery cell comprising a plurality of electrodes about an electrolyte, and having a surface;(b) selecting a polymer;(c) selecting a cap; and(d) forming a protective package around the battery cell by coating the cap with a liquid layer of the polymer to form a polymer coated cap, and laminating the polymer coated cap to the surface of the battery cell. 70. A method according to claim 69 wherein (b) comprises selecting a polymer comprising a thermoplastic material. 71. A method according to claim 70 comprising selecting a thermoplastic material having a nitrogen permeability or oxygen permeability that is less than 20 cm3*mm/(m2*day). 72. A method according to claim 70 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises PVDC, polyurethane, parylene, latex, or mixtures thereof.