Integration of ceramic felt as separator / electrolyte in lithium salt thermal batteries and the prospect of rechargeability
By Yazdani, Aliakbar; Sanghadasa, Mohan; Botte, Gerardine G.
Published in Journal of Power Sources
2022
Abstract
Ceramic felts as an immobilizing structure for molten salt electrolytes in thermal batteries are an effective alternative to widely used MgO. One of the significant benefits of ceramic felts is their high porosity and low weight. In this work Al2O3 and YSZ ceramic felts with bulk porosity of 97% and 96%, respectively, were investigated. The LiCl-KCl eutectic electrolyte was incorporated in ceramic felts at different loading levels, and the performance of the cells (capacity, specific energy, and charge/discharge behavior) was evaluated. LiSi/FeS2 thermal cells with YSZ and Al2O3 ceramic felt electrolyte/separators reported specific energy of 58.47 ± 0.05 Wh kg−1 and 43.96 ± 0.05 Wh kg−1, respectively, which are two times the specific energy for a typical MgO-pellet design thermal cell (22 Wh kg−1).