INVESTIGATIONS OF A NEW FAMILY OF ALKALINE-FLUORIDE-CARBONATE ELECTROLYTES FOR ZINC NICKEL OXIDE CELLS/

A new family of reduced-alkalinity electrolytes containing fluoride an d carbonate anions significantly extends the cycle-life performance of zinc/nickel oxide cells. Various compositions of this family of elect rolytes, with a range of KOH concentrations from 2 to 6.9 M, were char acterized for zinc/nickel oxide cell cycle-life and power performance, and their conductivities were measured for a range of operating tempe ratures. The optimum composition for this type of electrolyte based on these criteria was determined to be 3.2-4.5 M KOH with 2 M KF, 2 M K2 CO3, 0.5 M, LiF (suspension), and saturated ZnO. The cycle-life perfor mance for 1.4Ah sealed cells with the optimum electrolytes is 425-460 cycles to 80% of initial capacity, compared to 75-100 cycles for the c onventional highly alkaline electrolyte, 6.8 M:1 M KOH-LiOH, saturated ZnO, a factor of 5 improvement.