Alkaline battery electrolyte useful for a rechargeable alkaline electrochemical cell

Patent · 14 January 2020

OSTI ID:1632445

Steingart, Daniel; Hertzberg, Benjamin; Chamoun, Mylad; Davies, Greg; Meng, Ying Shirley

The invention provides an electrolyte composition which is adapted for use in a rechargeable alkaline electrochemical cell, and especially preferably adapted for use in a rechargeable manganese zinc electrochemical cell, which electrolyte composition imparts improved performance characteristics to the rechargeable alkaline electrochemical cell. The electrolyte composition includes an electrolyte composition in which contains a potassium hydroxide and lithium hydroxide in a concentration and a respective molar ratio of about 1 molar potassium hydroxide to 2.5-3.7 (preferably 1:3) molar lithium hydroxide (1 M KOH:2.5-3.7 M LiOH). Also provided are alkaline electrochemical cells and alkaline batteries comprising the electrolyte compositions. The resultant alkaline electrochemical cells and alkaline batteries exhibit improved performance characteristics, as the electrolyte composition significantly inhibits the passivation of Zn, and may also be useful in this role in other battery chemistries.

• Research Organization: Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
• DOE Contract Number: AR0000400
• Assignee: The Trustees of Princeton University (Princeton, NJ); The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA)
• Patent Number(s): 10,535,901
• Application Number: 15/560,599
• OSTI ID: 1632445
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE