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 battery, comprising a housing, and within the housing:
(a) an anode comprising an alkali metal;
(b) a cathode comprising 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); and
(c) a volume (v) of an electrolyte,
wherein the battery includes a total pore volume prior to discharge, a void volume that will be generated when the battery is discharged to 1.05 V once, and the volume (v) of the electrolyte is greater than the sum of the total pore volume and the void volume.
2. The battery of claim 1 , wherein v/m has a ratio of at least 0.33 ml/g.
3. The battery of claim 1 , wherein v/m has a ratio of at most 0.5 ml/g.
4. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the mass (m) is at least 4.5 g.
5. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the cathode has a porosity of at most 35%.
6. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the volume (v) of electrolyte is at least 1.4 ml and at most 2.2 ml.
7. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal is lithium.
8. The battery of claim 7 , wherein the lithium is alloyed with aluminum.
9. The battery of claim 7 , wherein the lithium metal is not alloyed with another metal.
10. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the cathode further comprises a material selected from CuS, Cu 2 S, FeS, CuO, CuF x , Bi 2 O 3 and combinations thereof.
11. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the cathode active material 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.
12. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the cathode active material is iron disulfide.
13. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal is lithium, the cathode active material is iron disulfide, and the v/m ratio is at least 0.33 ml/g and at most 0.50 ml/g.
14. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte further comprises a lithium salt.
15. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the battery is a primary battery.
16. A method of using a battery, comprising:
discharging but not recharging a battery comprising a housing, and within the housing:
(a) an anode comprising an alkali metal;
(b) a cathode comprising 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); and
(c) a volume (v) of an electrolyte;
wherein the battery includes a total pore volume prior to discharge, a void volume that will be generated when the battery is discharged to 1.05 V once, and the volume (v) of the electrolyte is greater than the sum of the total pore volume and the void volume.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein v/m has a ratio of at least 0.33 ml/g.