Rechargeable metal halide battery
View Patent ↗Provided is a rechargeable metal halide battery with an anode; an electrolyte including (i) an oxidizing gas, (ii) a metal halide, and (iii) a heterocyclic compound solvent; and a current collector contacting the active cathode material. As the metal halide of the electrolyte acts as an active cathode material that can receive, store, and release metal ions during charging and discharging of the battery, the battery does not require a dedicated cathode. The lack of a dedicated cathode results in a rechargeable battery with high power density that is lightweight and inexpensive to make.
1 . A battery, comprising:
(a) an anode;
(b) an electrolyte, comprising:
(i) a solvent comprising a heterocyclic compound, and (ii) a metal halide dissolved in the electrolyte, wherein the dissolved metal halide functions as an active cathode material for the battery; and
(c) a current collector contacting the metal halide dissolved in the electrolyte,
wherein the battery does not include a dedicated cathode material in addition to the metal halide dissolved in the electrolyte that functions as the active cathode material.
2 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the battery is capable of at least 100 cycles of charging and discharging.
3 . The battery of claim 1 , further comprising a separator between the anode and the current collector.
4 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte is non-aqueous.
5 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the halide of the metal halide is selected from the group consisting of I—, Br—, Cl—, F—, and mixtures and combinations thereof.
6 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the heterocyclic compound is selected from the group consisting of tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydropyran, tetrahydrothiophene, oxathiolane, succinimide, oxazolidone, γ-butyrolactone, γ-caprolactone, ε-caprolactone, γ-valerolactone, pyrrolidine, imidazolidine, sulfolane, thiane, and mixtures and combinations thereof.
7 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte further comprises an additional organic solvent selected from the group consisting of ethers, glymes, carbonates, nitriles, amides, amines, organosulfur solvents, organophosphorus solvents, organosilicon solvents, fluorinated solvents, and mixtures and combinations thereof.
8 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the anode comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, Mg, and mixtures and combinations thereof.
9 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the anode comprises an intercalation host material capable of taking up metal ions.
10 . The battery of claim 1 , further comprising a separator between the anode and the current collector.
11 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the metal halide comprises an electrolyte salt that dissociates into a respective halide ion and a respective metal ion in the solvent, and wherein the halide ion comprises an ion of at least one of I, Br, Cl, and F, and the metal ion comprises an ion of at least one of Li, Mg, and Na.
12 . The battery of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte further includes, in addition to the active metal cathode comprising the metal halide, a salt that dissociates into a respective metal ion and a respective counter anion, wherein the metal ion is selected from the group consisting of Li, Mg, and Na, and mixtures and combinations thereof, and the anion is selected from the group consisting of nitrate (NO 3 − ), hexafluorophosphate (PF 6 − ), tetrafluoroborate (BF 4 − ), bisoxalato borate (BOB − ), and difluorooxalato borate (DFOB − ), trifluoromethanesulfonate (TF − ), trifluorosulfonylimide (TFSI − ), and mixtures and combinations thereof.