Anaerobic Aluminum-Water Electrochemical Cell
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsIan Salmon McKay, Ruaridh R. Macdonald, Thomas B. Milnes
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Abstract
An anaerobic aluminum-water electrochemical cell that includes: a plurality of electrode stacks, each electrode stack comprising an aluminum or aluminum alloy anode, and at least one solid cathode configured to be electrically coupled to the anode; a liquid electrolyte between the anode and the at least one cathode; one or more physical separators between each electrode stack adjacent to the cathode; a housing configured to hold the electrode stacks, the electrolyte, and the physical separators; and a water injection port, in the housing, configured to introduce water into the housing. The electrolyte includes a hydroxide base at a concentration of at least 0.05 M to at most 3 M.
Claims20
An anaerobic aluminum-water electrochemical cell comprising:
- a plurality of electrode stacks, each electrode stack comprising an aluminum or aluminum alloy anode, and at least one solid cathode configured to be electrically coupled to the anode;
- a liquid electrolyte between the anode and the at least one cathode;
- one or more physical separators between each electrode stack adjacent to the cathode;
- a housing configured to hold the electrode stacks, the electrolyte, and the physical separators;
- and
- a water injection port, in the housing, configured to introduce water into the housing,
- wherein the electrolyte includes a hydroxide base at a concentration of at least 0.05 M to at most 3 M.
A method for generating an electrical current, comprising introducing a liquid electrolyte between the anode and at least one cathode of an electrochemical cell, the electrochemical cell comprising:
- a plurality of electrode stacks, each electrode stack comprising an aluminum or aluminum alloy anode, and at least one solid cathode configured to be electrically coupled to the anode;
- a liquid electrolyte between the anode and the at least one cathode;
- one or more physical separators between each electrode stack adjacent to the cathode;
- a housing configured to hold the electrode stacks, the electrolyte, and the physical separators;
- and
- a water injection port, in the housing, configured to introduce water into the housing,
- wherein the electrolyte includes a hydroxide base at a concentration of at least 0.1 M to at most 2.5 M.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.