Electric cells
AssigneeThe Secretary of State for Industry in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
InventorsLeslie Samuel Evans, John Richard Harbar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a sodium-sulphur battery cell, an extended surface area current collector is sandwiched between portions of solid electrolyte, also of extended surface area, which provide between them a space for the liquid sulphur. The spacing between the current collector and each of the portions does not exceed the maximum distance that the sodium ions can diffuse in the liquid sulphur during a specified recharge time. A plurality of portions defining a plurality of spaces for the liquid sulphur may be provided, each space having an extended surface area current collector sandwiched between the portions defining the space. A plurality of these battery cells may be arranged so that they are separated one from another by a bipolar electrode to provide a series connection.
Claims22
An electric cell for use with a liquid anode, and a liquid cathode, comprising a solid electrolyte having at least two portions disposed in contraposition so as to provide between them on one side a space for the liquid cathode, the liquid anode being arranged to lie outside the said space on the other sides of each of the said portions, and current collecting means of extended surface area disposed in the said space and substantially dividing the space into two sub-spaces, each sub-space being bounded on one side by a surface of one side of one of the portions of the solid electrolyte and on the other side by a part of the current collecting means having an extended surface area at least equal to a major proportion of the area of the said surface.
An electric cell for use with sodium as the liquid anode and sulphur impregnated in a graphite felt as the liquid cathode, comprising a solid electrolyte having at least two portions arranged to be of outer and inner tubular form and disposed one within the other with one of their ends on the same transverse plane to provide between them on one side a space for the liquid sulphur and graphite felt, a metal casing into which the portions are disposed, the sodium being arranged to lie outside the said space on the other side of the said portions between the portions and the casing, a closure means at the said one end of the portions closing the space, and another closure means at the other end of the inner portion closing the bore of the tubular inner portion, a current collecting means of tubular form and extended surface area disposed within the space so as to substantially follow a median path in the said space and substantially divide the space into two sub-spaces, the spacing between the current collecting means and the solid electrolyte portions not exceeding the maximum distance that the sodium ions can diffuse through the liquid sulphur during a specified recharge time for which the cell has been designed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.