A battery includes an anode having an alkali metal as the active material, a cathode having, for example, iron disulfide as the active material, and an increased electrolyte volume.
1. A method of making a primary battery that includes a housing including an anode comprising lithium metal, a cathode comprising a transition metal polysulfide, and a volume (v) of an organic electrolyte, wherein discharging the primary battery results in an increase of void volume in the primary battery, the method comprising:
determining a total pore volume in the battery prior to discharge;
determining the increase void volume that will be generated when the battery is discharged to exhaustion once; and
adjusting the volume (v) of the organic electrolyte to greater than a sum of the total pore volume and the void volume.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal polysulfide has the formula M1 a M2 b S n , wherein M1 and M2 are transition metals, a+b is at least 1, and n is at least 2(a+b).
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal polysulfide has a mass (m) and v/m has a ratio of at least 0.33 ml/g.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein v/m further has a ratio of at most 0.5 ml/g.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the mass (m) is at least four grams and at most six grams.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volume (v) of the organic electrolyte is at least 0.4 ml greater than the sum of the total pore volume and the increase void volume.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volume (v) of the organic electrolyte is at least 0.7 ml greater than the sum of the total pore volume and the increased void volume.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volume (v) of the organic electrolyte is placed into the housing when the housing is under vacuum.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cathode has a porosity of at most 35%.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal polysulfide comprises one or more materials selected from FeS 2 , CoS 2 , NiS 2 , MoS 2 , Co 2 S 9 , Co 2 S 7 , Ni 2 S 7 , Fe 2 S 7 , Mo 2 S 3 , NiCoS 7 , and combinations thereof.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal polysulfide is FeS 2 .
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary battery is a primary AA battery.
13. A method of maintaining ion transport in a primary battery, the method comprising:
placing into a housing an anode comprising lithium metal, a volume (v) of an organic electrolyte, and a cathode comprising:
(a) an aluminum current collector; and
(b) a mass (m) of a cathode active material selected from the group consisting of transition metal polysulfides having the formula M1 a M2 b S n , wherein M1 and M2 are transition metals, a+b is at least 1, and n is at least 2(a+b),
wherein the primary battery includes a total pore volume prior to discharge, a void volume that will be generated when the primary battery is discharged to exhaustion once, and the volume (v) of the organic electrolyte is greater than the sum of the total pore volume and the void volume.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein v/m has a ratio of at least 0.33 ml/g.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising placing into the housing the volume (v) of the organic electrolyte while the housing is under vacuum.