Tc. Adler et al., INVESTIGATIONS OF A NEW FAMILY OF ALKALINE-FLUORIDE-CARBONATE ELECTROLYTES FOR ZINC NICKEL OXIDE CELLS/, Industrial & engineering chemistry research, 37(8), 1998, pp. 3237-3241
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.