THIS PROPOSAL DEALS WITH A NOVEL APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE LIFE OF CONDUCTIVE, CARBON PLASTIC ELECTRODE MATERIALS WHICHARE BEING USED IN ADVANCED, FLOWING ELECTROLYTE ZINC HALOGEN BATTERY SYSTEMS.

THIS PROPOSAL DEALS WITH A NOVEL APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE LIFE OF CONDUCTIVE, CARBON PLASTIC ELECTRODE MATERIALS WHICHARE BEING USED IN ADVANCED, FLOWING ELECTROLYTE ZINC HALOGEN BATTERY SYSTEMS. IT IS SPECIFICALLY DIRECTED AT REDUCING THE BROMINE-INDUCED STRUCTURAL DEFORMATION OR WARPAGE WHICH OCCURS IN BIPOLAR PLASTIC BONDED CARBON ELECTRODE DUE TO VOLUME CHANGES AS A RESULT OF SIGNIFICANT BROMINE ABSORPTION INTO THE BIPOLAR PLATE. THE PROPOSED APPROACH IS BASED ON THE USE OF BORON AS A DOPANT WHICH IS SUBSTITUTIONALLY INTRODUCED INTO THE CARBON LATTICE. SUCH BORON DOPING AT RATHER LOW LEVELS (< 1 ATOM PERCENT) LOWERS THE FERMI LEVEL OF THE CARBON AND THIS LOWERING OF THE FERMILEVEL STRONGLY INHIBITS BROMINE ABSORPTION AND THEREFORE SHOULD REDUCE ELECTRODE WARPAGE. THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES ARETO: 1. EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF BORON DOPING OF DIFFERENT CARBONSON THEIR BROMINE ABSORPTION. 2. DETERMINE THE ABILITY OF BORON-DOPED, PLASTIC-BONDED CARBON ELECTRODES MATERIALS TO RESIST WARPAGE IN A BROMINE ENVIRONMENT. 3. ESTABLISH THAT BORON-DOPING OF THE CARBON PLASTIC MATERIAL DOES NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT ZINC-BROMINE CELL ELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR.