Water activated battery system having enhanced start-up behavior

• US 9,905,860 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2014
• Issued: 02/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PolyPlus Battery Company
• Original Assignee: PolyPlus Battery Company
• Inventors: Visco, Steven J., De Jonghe, Lutgard C., Nimon, Vitaliy, Petrov, Alexei, Wogan, Ian, Nimon, Yevgeniy S., Katz, Bruce D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Laios, Maria
• Assistant Examiner(s): Carrico, Robert S
• Application Number:
  US14/317,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20150004457A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,341 Days
• Field of Search: 429119
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/06 Electrodes for primary cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/382 Lithium H01M4/405 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/34 Immersion cells, e.g. sea-water cells

Abstract

A water activated lithium battery cell having a thermal agent component for warming up cell components upon deployment. Also a water-activated battery system that is adapted to operate in and/or on the surface of a waterbody (i.e., a body of water including those which are natural or man made). In various embodiments the battery system comprises an operably breachable hermetic enclosure and at least one lithium battery cell having an open-cathode architecture, the lithium cell disposed inside the hermetic enclosure and therein maintained in an open ionic circuit condition (i.e., an inactive state) throughout battery system storage. Moreover, optionally, a thermal agent may be disposed inside the hermetic enclosure for warming up one or more battery cell components, the agent typically water activated, which is to mean that it (the thermal agent) evolves heat by reacting with water.

Claims

1. A lithium battery cell for providing a requisite amount of electrical power, the battery cell deployed for use and operated in or on a waterbody, the cell comprising:

a lithium anode structure comprising;

a lithium anode comprising an electroactive lithium component; and

a substantially impervious lithium ion conductive layer component positioned adjacent the anode and configured to protect the electroactive lithium from direct contact with waterbody liquid;

a cathode structure comprising a cathode component, the cathode structure open to the external environment for receiving waterbody liquid such that the waterbody liquid can directly contact the cathode component and serve as an electrolytic medium between the cathode and the lithium anode structure; and

a thermal agent component positioned to come into direct contact with waterbody liquid as a result of cell deployment, the thermal agent component configured to be activated by contact with waterbody liquid to generate heat for reducing internal cell resistance;

wherein the contact between the thermal agent component and the waterbody liquid produces a heat evolving corrosion reaction of the thermal agent.

2. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the thermal agent component is present in sufficient amount to generate ample heat to reduce the internal resistance of one or more of said cell components by an amount satisfactory to enable the cell to deliver the requisite electrical power, whereby without the thermal agent component the one or more cell components would have a prohibitively large internal resistance that would render the cell unable to deliver the requisite power and thus inoperable for its intended purpose.

3. The lithium battery cell of claim 2 wherein the amount of heat generated is sufficient to render the cell operable within 30 seconds of thermal agent activation.

4. The lithium battery cell of claim 2 wherein the amount of heat generated relative to the apparent area of the substantially impervious layer component is at least 5 J/cm2.

5. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the thermal agent is not an electroactive material for generating ampere-hour capacity for the cell, and the thermal agent is not electro-reduced or electro-oxidized as a result of cell operation and is not configured to provide ampere-hour capacity to the cell.

6. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the thermal agent is in the form of a powder compact.

7. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the thermal agent is disposed in direct contact with the cathode structure.

8. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the cathode structure is porous and the thermal agent is disposed within pores of the cathode structure.

9. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the thermal agent is disposed in a gap between the cathode and anode structures.

10. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the thermal agent is a lithium compound.

11. The lithium battery cell of claim 1 wherein the electroactive lithium is lithium metal.