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US 11,349,155 B2Granted
Electrolyte element and a cell incorporating the electrolyte element
AssigneeLina Energy Ltd.
InventorRichard Dawson
Life of this patent
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AssigneeLina Energy Ltd.
InventorRichard Dawson
Estimating the term…
An electrolyte element (10) comprises a perforated sheet (11) of non-reactive metal such as an aluminium-bearing ferritic steel, and a non-permeable ceramic layer (16b) of sodium-ion-conducting ceramic bonded to one face of the perforated sheet (11) by a porous ceramic sub-layer (16a). The perforated sheet (11) may be of thickness in the range 50 μm up to 500 μm, and the thickness of the non-permeable ceramic layer (16b) may be no more than 50 μm, for example 20 μm or 10 μm. Thus the electrolyte properties are provided by the non-permeable thin layer (16b) of ceramic, while mechanical strength is provided by the perforated sheet (11). The electrolyte element (10) may be used in a rechargeable molten sodium-metal halide cell, in particular a sodium/nickel chloride cell (20). It makes cells with increased power density possible.
An electrolyte element for a molten sodium/metal chloride electric cell, the electrolyte element comprising an electrolyte layer of sodium-ion-conducting ceramic which is non-permeable to gases and liquids, a porous ceramic sub-layer that is permeable to gases and liquids, and a perforated sheet of metal, non-reactive in such a cell, to support the non-permeable electrolyte layer, wherein the porous ceramic sub-layer has one face bonded to the non-permeable electrolyte layer of sodium-ion-conducting ceramic and an opposite face bonded to the perforated sheet of metal, so that the non-permeable electrolyte layer of sodium-ion-conducting ceramic is bonded indirectly to one face of the perforated sheet by being bonded to the porous ceramic sub-layer that is bonded to the face of the perforated sheet, both the electrolyte layer and the porous sub-layer being sintered.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.