Procedure for making nickel electrodes
AssigneeAT&T Bell Laboratories
InventorChristopher K. Dyer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process is described for electrolytically producing nickel electrodes by subjecting a porous nickel structure (generally a nickel plaque) to alternating anodic and cathodic pulses in an aqueous halide (generally chloride) solution. The alternating pulses first anodically dissolve the nickel from the porous nickel plaque and then cathodically precipitate the nickel in the form of the hydroxide. Particularly attractive is the use of a stable, simple solution, room temperature operation and the broad variation in operating conditions (pH, etc.) that still produce optimum results.
Claims12
A process for the fabrication of an aqueous battery cell in which the battery cell comprises at least one nickel electrode characterized in that the nickel electrode is made by a procedure comprising the step of exposing a conducting nickel structure to alternate anodic and cathodic potentials in an electrolytic solution with conductivity greater than 0.001 mho-cm, said alternating anodic and cathodic pulses occurring at a frequency between 0.01 and 100 Hz and which comprises ions that enhance dissolution of metallic nickel from the conducting nickel structure and cathodically reduce water to produce a sufficiently high hydroxide concentration to precipitate the anodically oxidized metallic nickel as active material and in which the conducting nickel structure is a porous nickel plaque, and the nickel in the active material originates only from the porous nickel plaque.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.