A High Specific Energy Bipolar Silver/Zinc Battery Using a Novel Iightweight Bipolar Electrode

An improved silver/zinc battery is a leading candidate for many applications requiring both high specific power and high specific energy. The silver and zinc electrodes offer important advantages over alternate electrode materials, such as equivalent weight and favorable kinetics. Silver/zinc batteries have seen application in systems such as torpedoes,satellites, underwater vehicles, aircraft,and missiles.However, more widespread use of this battery will be limited unless the combination specific energy can be increased. This work involves the development of a bipolar silver/zinc battery, with a specific energy which is substantially superior to the best primary silver/zinc batteries, but which is capable of delivering its energy through many charge/discharge cycles. The design of the battery centers on existing technology for high cycle life silver/zinc batteries, but also employs an efficient bipolar design, a lightweight thin, highly conductive bipolar electrode substrate, an efficient bipolar design, a lightweight, thin, highly conductive bipolar electrode substrate, an effective bipolar cell seal, and electrolyte modifcations designed to reduce the solubility of zinc. se: electrolyte modifications designed to reduce the solubility of zinc. The goal of this work is the demonstration of a ten cell bipolar battery, with a specific energy of > 399 W.hr/kg and which can be used through several deep cycles. The technology is adaptable to higher specific energy secondary batteries as well.