Rechargeable alkali metal-air battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9269997-B2
Application number	US-201113702309-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2011
Priority date	Jun 8, 2010
Publication date	Feb 23, 2016
Grant date	Feb 23, 2016

Abstract

An energy storage cell ( 20 ) including: an anode ( 40 ) formed of a molten alkali metal; an air cathode ( 60 ); and an electrolyte medium ( 50 ) located between the anode and cathode.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An energy storage cell, comprising:
an anode comprising a molten alkali metal;
an air cathode;
an electrolyte medium located between the anode and the cathode;
a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film covering the anode; and
an SEI precursor, which on reduction forms the SEI film, the precursor being added to the electrolyte medium.

2. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 wherein the molten alkali metal comprises a metal from the group of metals consisting of Lithium (Li), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Rubidium (Rb) and Cesium (Cs).

3. The energy storage cell according to claim 2 wherein the alkali metal is comprised in an alloy of the metal.

4. The energy storage cell according to claim 3 wherein the alloy comprises at least two alkali metals.

5. The energy storage cell according to claim 3 wherein the alloy comprises at least one metal from the group of metals consisting of: Gold (Au), Mercury (Hg), Indium (In), Lead (Pb), Antimony (Sb), Tin (Sn), Bismuth (Bi), and Tellurium (Tl).

6. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 wherein the temperature of the molten alkali metal is less than about 50° C. above the melting point of the metal.

7. The energy storage cell according to claim 6 wherein the temperature of the molten alkali metal is less than about 25° C. above the melting point of the metal.

8. The energy storage cell according to claim 7 wherein the temperature of the molten alkali metal is less than about 10° C. above the melting point of the metal.

9. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 wherein the molten alkali metal is supported by a porous substrate.

10. The energy storage cell according to claim 9 wherein the porous substrate comprises at least one of: graphite, an intercalation compound of graphite, a high surface area carbon, carbon nanotubes, a sponge of aluminum, a sponge of titanium, and a sponge of an aluminum-titanium alloy.

11. The energy storage cell according to claim 10 wherein the porous substrate is formed from at least one of the sponge of aluminum, the sponge of titanium, and the sponge of aluminum-titanium alloy, and comprises a covering layer of at least one of carbon and graphite, wherein the covering layer has a thickness less than about 1 micron.

12. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 wherein the electrolyte medium is a non-aqueous medium.

13. The energy storage cell according to claim 12 , wherein the non-aqueous medium comprises at least one of a solid and a liquid.

14. The energy storage cell according to claim 13 , wherein the solid comprises at least one of sodium beta alumina, lithium beta alumina, and sodium nitrite.

15. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 wherein the electrolyte medium comprises at least one of an ionic liquid and a polymer electrolyte.

16. The energy storage cell according to claim 15 wherein the electrolyte medium comprises the alkali metal.

17. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , wherein the solid electrolyte interphase film has an equivalent volume at least equal to the equivalent volume of the alkali metal.

18. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 and comprising a gas delivery system that delivers at least one of air and oxygen to the air cathode.

19. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 wherein the air cathode comprises an oxygen redox catalyst.

20. The energy storage cell according to claim 19 wherein the redox catalyst comprises at least one of MnO 2 , Ag, CO 3 O 4 , La 2 O 3 , LaNiO 3 , NiCo 2 O 4 and LaMnO 3 .

21. The energy storage cell according to claim 19 wherein the air cathode is formed having a three phase structure in which the catalyst is located, and in which oxygen, material from the electrolyte medium, and the catalyst interact.

22. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , and comprising reduced oxygen species which are formed at the air cathode with alkali cations provided by the anode, on discharge of the cell.

23. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , wherein the cell is rechargeable.

24. A stack of energy storage cells according to claim 1 comprising an electrically conducting bipolar plate located between each pair of cells.

25. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , wherein the SEI film comprises a component having an equivalent volume smaller than the equivalent volume of the alkali metal.

26. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , and comprising SEI precursor reduction products saturating the electrolyte medium.

27. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , wherein the SEI precursor comprises sulfur derivatives.

28. The energy storage cell according to claim 1 , wherein the SEI film comprises an organic material.

29. A method for producing an energy storage cell comprising:
forming an anode comprising a molten alkali metal;
forming an air cathode;
locating an electrolyte medium between the anode and cathode;
covering the anode with a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film; and
adding an SEI precursor, which on reduction forms the SEI film, to the electrolyte medium.

30. The method according to claim 29 wherein the molten alkali metal comprises a metal from the group of metals consisting of Lithium (Li), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Rubidium (Rb) and Cesium (Cs).

31. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the temperature of the molten alkali metal is less than about 50° C. above the melting point of the metal.

32. The method according to claim 29 wherein the molten alkali is supported by a porous substrate.

33. The method according to claim 29 wherein the electrolyte medium is a non-aqueous medium.

34. The method according to claim 29 wherein the electrolyte medium comprises at least one of an ionic liquid and a polymer electrolyte.

35. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the solid electrolyte interphase film has an equivalent volume at least equal to the equivalent volume of the alkali metal.

36. The method according to claim 29 and comprising providing a gas delivery system that delivers at least one of air and oxygen to the air cathode.

37. The method according to claim 29 wherein the air cathode comprises an oxygen redox catalyst.

38. The method according to claim 29 , and comprising forming reduced oxygen species at the air cathode with alkali cations provided by the anode, on discharge of the cell.

39. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the cell is rechargeable.

40. A method for generating energy, comprising:
forming a cell having an anode comprising a molten alkali metal;
forming an air cathode in the cell;
locating an electrolyte medium between the anode and cathode;
covering the anode with a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film;
adding an SEI precursor, which on reduction forms the SEI film, to the electrolyte medium; and
discharging the cell.

Assignees

• Peled Emanuel
• Golodnitsky Diana
• Mazor-Shafir Hadar
• Goor Dar Meital
• Avshalomov Shlomo
• Univ Ramot

Inventors

• Peled Emanuel
• Golodnitsky Diana
• Mazor-Shafir Hadar
• Goor Dar Meital
• Avshalomov Shlomo

Classifications

• H01M10/3909

  Sodium-sulfur cells · CPC title

• H01M12/06 Primary

  with one metallic and one gaseous electrode · CPC title

• H01M4/38 Primary

  of elements or alloys · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M10/3918

  characterised by the electrolyte · CPC title