Additives for electrochemical cells having zinc anodes
First Claim
1. A method for both inhibiting the occurrence of load voltage instability and controlling the formation of hydrogen gas in an alkaline electrochemical cell containing less than 50 pans of mercury per million parts by weight of the cell and having a gelled zinc anode and an aqueous alkaline electrolyte, said method comprising adding a mixture of at least one anionic surfactant and one non-ionic surfactant to said zinc anode.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method for inhibiting the occurrence of load voltage instability in zinc anodic alkaline cells. The anode active material contains a gelled slurry of zinc alloy particles, a gelling agent, an aqueous alkaline solution and a mixed surfactant containing an anionic surfactant and a non-ionic surfactant. The gelled anode active material inhibits the occurrence of load voltage instability and simultaneously reduces hydrogen evolution even though the cell contains no added amounts of mercury.
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Citations
19 Claims
- 1. A method for both inhibiting the occurrence of load voltage instability and controlling the formation of hydrogen gas in an alkaline electrochemical cell containing less than 50 pans of mercury per million parts by weight of the cell and having a gelled zinc anode and an aqueous alkaline electrolyte, said method comprising adding a mixture of at least one anionic surfactant and one non-ionic surfactant to said zinc anode.
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18. A method for both inhibiting the occurrence of load voltage instability and controlling the formation of hydrogen gas in an alkaline electrochemical cell having a gelled zinc anode, an aqueous alkaline electrolyte, and "zero added" mercury, said method comprising .adding a mixture of at least one anionic surfactant and one non-ionic surfactant to said zinc anode, wherein the anionic surfactant is represented by the formula:
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space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R.sup.1 (CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --O).sub.n --X.sup.1wherein, R1 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl alkylaryl and combinations thereof;
X1 is selected from an anionic group consisting of an anionic acid group, salt of an anionic acid group, and anionic phosphate ester group; and
n is between about 3 and 40, and wherein the non-ionic surfactant is represented by the formula;
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R.sup.2 --(CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --O).sub.n --X.sup.2wherein, R2 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, fluorinated aliphatic groups and combinations thereof;
X2 is a non-ionic group; and
n is between about 3 and 250. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification