Lithium-Inorganic Electrolyte Battery Systems.

LIABILITYELECTRONICSLITHIUM CELLS, LITHIUM CHLORINE CELLS, PHOSPHORUSV OXYCHLORIDE, TETRAFLUOROETHYLENE RESINS, THIONYL CHLORIDE, DEPOLARIZATIONThe report describes a study of prototype room temperature lithium cells employing solutions of LiBCl4 in POCl3 and LiAlCl4 in SOCl2 as electrolytes and polytetrafluoroethylene Teflon-bonded carbon black electrodes as cathodes. A novel feature of these cells is that during discharge the solvents, i.e., POCl3 and SOCl2, are electrochemically reduced and behave as depolarizers. Based on total cell weight, a prototype cell, with a 1.5 molar solution of LiAlCl4 in SOCl2 as the electrolyte, yielded an experimental energy density of 244 Whlb for a 57-hour discharge rate 20 mA constant current, 1 mAsq cm current density. The performance of these cells is also compared with the performance of prototype lithium-organic electrolyte-graphite monofluoride and lithium-inorganic electrolyte-tetracarbon monofluoride cells. Author