Low temperature formation of electrode having electrically conductive metal oxide surface

Patent · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1998

OSTI ID:871933

Anders, Simone ^[1]; Anders, Andre ^[1]; Brown, Ian G ^[2]; McLarnon, Frank R ^[3]; Kong, Fanping ^[2]

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1. Albany, CA
2. Berkeley, CA
3. Orinda, CA

A low temperature process is disclosed for forming metal suboxides on substrates by cathodic arc deposition by either controlling the pressure of the oxygen present in the deposition chamber, or by controlling the density of the metal flux, or by a combination of such adjustments, to thereby control the ratio of oxide to metal in the deposited metal suboxide coating. The density of the metal flux may, in turn, be adjusted by controlling the discharge current of the arc, by adjusting the pulse length (duration of on cycle) of the arc, and by adjusting the frequency of the arc, or any combination of these parameters. In a preferred embodiment, a low temperature process is disclosed for forming an electrically conductive metal suboxide, such as, for example, an electrically conductive suboxide of titanium, on an electrode surface, such as the surface of a nickel oxide electrode, by such cathodic arc deposition and control of the deposition parameters. In the preferred embodiment, the process results in a titanium suboxide-coated nickel oxide electrode exhibiting reduced parasitic evolution of oxygen during charging of a cell made using such an electrode as the positive electrode, as well as exhibiting high oxygen overpotential, resulting in suppression of oxygen evolution at the electrode at full charge of the cell.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA
• Assignee: Regents of University of California (Oakland, CA)
• Patent Number(s): US 5827580
• OSTI ID: 871933
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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adjusted
adjusting
adjustments
cathodic
cell
chamber
charge
charge current
charging
coating
combination
conductive
conductive metal
control
controlling
current
cycle
density
deposited
deposition
deposition chamber
deposition parameters
discharge
discharge current
disclosed
duration
electrically
electrically conductive
electrode
electrode surface
embodiment
evolution
example
exhibiting
exhibiting reduced
flux
formation
forming
forming metal
frequency
length
metal
metal oxide
nickel
nickel oxide
overpotential
oxide
oxide coating
oxide electrode
oxide surface
oxygen
oxygen evolution
parameters
parasitic
positive
positive electrode
preferred
preferred embodiment
pressure
process
process results
pulse
pulse length
ratio
reduced
resulting
results
suboxide
suboxide-coated
suboxides
substrates
suppression
surface
temperature
temperature formation
temperature process
titanium