Sealed Lithium Inorganic Electrolyte Cell

The effects of iron impurities in the electrolyte on the lithium anode passivation have been studied further, using both the standard cell hardware and the isolated cell components within a glass cell arrangement. Cold rolled steel was found stable in the inorganic electrolyte if it was held strictly at the potential of lithium. The slightest deviation of the potential from this value resulted in severe corrosion, generated iron species in the solution, and caused the passivation effects described in previous reports. A large area of cold rolled steel cans, exposed to the electrolyte in the present type of cell construction of an appreciable distance from the contact with lithium, appears to form dissolution sites generating more than tolerable amounts of iron in the solution. For this reason, the idea of building the large cells with cold rolled steel hardware will have to be abandoned. Attention was gradually switched to studies of stainless steel as the cell hardware.