Anaerobic aluminum-water electrochemical cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10581128-B2
Application number	US-201816057117-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2018
Priority date	Dec 4, 2012
Publication date	Mar 3, 2020
Grant date	Mar 3, 2020

Abstract

An anaerobic aluminum-water electrochemical cell that includes: a plurality of electrode stacks, each electrode stack featuring an aluminum or aluminum alloy anode, and at least one cathode configured to be electrically coupled to the anode; one or more physical separators between each electrode stack adjacent to the cathode; a housing configured to hold the electrode stacks, an electrolyte, and the physical separators; a water injection port, in the housing, configured to introduce water into the housing. The electrochemical cell also includes an amount of hydroxide base sufficient to form an electrolyte having a hydroxide base concentration of at least 0.05 M to at most 3 M when water is introduced between the anode and at least one cathode of the electrochemical cell. The aluminum or aluminum alloy of the anode is substantially free of titanium and boron.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An anaerobic aluminum-water electrochemical cell comprising:
a plurality of electrode stacks, each electrode stack comprising a solid aluminum or aluminum alloy anode, in the form of a plate, the plate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, and at least one cathode disposed directly next to the first side of the plate and at least one cathode disposed directly next to the second side of the plate, wherein the cathode on the first side and the cathode on the second side are configured to be electrically coupled to the anode;
one or more physical separators, between each one of the electrode stacks, positioned between the cathode on the first side of one electrode stack and the cathode on the second side of an adjacent electrode stack;
a housing configured to hold the electrode stacks, an electrolyte, and the physical separators; and
a water injection port, in the housing, configured to introduce water into the housing, so that the water flows through the physical separators,
wherein the aluminum or aluminum alloy of the anode is substantially free of titanium and boron.

2. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte has a hydroxide base concentration of between 0.05 M to 3 M when the water is introduced into the plurality of electrode stacks.

3. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte has a hydroxide base concentration of between about 0.25 M to about 2 M when the water is introduced into the plurality of electrode stacks.

4. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the anode has a purity of at least 99.95 wt % of aluminum.

5. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the anode has a purity of at least 99.99 wt % of aluminum.

6. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one cathode on the first side of the plate or the at least one cathode on the second side of the plate has a surface having an electrochemical roughness factor of at least 5.

7. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one cathode is formed of a solid plate.

8. The electrochemical cell according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more physical separators are formed from a mesh material having openings of about 100 μm or larger.

9. An aluminum-water electrochemical system comprising:
an aluminum-water electrochemical cell according to claim 1 ;
a waste separation system in fluid communication with the housing and configured to receive the electrolyte and aluminum hydroxide waste from the aluminum-water electrochemical cell and to separate the aluminum hydroxide waste from the electrolyte; and
a fuel injector, in fluid communication with the waste separation system and the water injection port, configured to receive the electrolyte from the waste separation system and to provide the electrolyte to the water injection port.

10. The electrochemical system according to claim 9 , wherein the fuel injector is further configured to receive the water from a water supply.

11. The electrochemical system according to claim 9 , further comprising an aqueous electrolyte.

12. The electrochemical system according to claim 11 , wherein the electrolyte includes water and sodium chloride.

13. A method for generating an electrical current using an electrochemical cell, the method comprising:
providing the electrochemical cell, the electrochemical cell comprising:
a plurality of electrode stacks, each electrode stack comprising a solid aluminum or aluminum alloy anode, in the form of a plate, the plate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, and at least one cathode disposed directly next to the first side of the plate and at least one cathode disposed directly next to the second side of the plate, wherein the cathode on the first side and the cathode on the second side are configured to be electrically coupled to the anode;
one or more physical separators, between each one of the electrode stacks, positioned between the cathode on the first side of one electrode stack and the cathode on the second side of an adjacent electrode stack;
a housing configured to hold the electrode stacks, an electrolyte, and the physical separators; and
a water injection port, in the housing, configured to introduce water into the housing, so that the water flows through the physical separators, wherein the aluminum or aluminum alloy of the anode is substantially free of titanium and boron;

introducing the water between the anode and the at least one cathode on the first side and between the anode and the at least one cathode on the second side in each electrode stack, a hydroxide base and the water forming the electrolyte;
anaerobically oxidizing the aluminum or aluminum alloy anode; and
electrochemically reducing the water at the at least one cathode.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the electrolyte has a hydroxide base concentration of between 0.05 M to 3 M when the water is introduced into the electrochemical cell.

15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the electrolyte has a hydroxide base concentration of between about 0.25 M to about 2 M when the water is introduced into the electrochemical cell.

16. The method according to claim 13 wherein the at least one cathode on the first side of the plate or the at least one cathode on the second side of the plate has a surface having an electrochemical roughness factor of at least 5.

17. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the anode has a purity of at least 99.95 wt % of aluminum.

18. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the anode has a purity of at least 99.99 wt % of aluminum.

Assignees

• Massachusetts Inst Technology

Inventors

• Mckay Ian Salmon
• Macdonald Ruaridh R
• Milnes Thomas B

Classifications

• H01M2300/0014

  Alkaline electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M4/463

  Aluminium based · CPC title

• H01M8/0693

  Treatment of the electrolyte residue, e.g. reconcentrating · CPC title

• H01M8/04186

  of liquid-charged or electrolyte-charged reactants · CPC title

• C02F1/469

  by electrochemical separation, e.g. by electro-osmosis, electrodialysis, electrophoresis · CPC title