Rechargeable metal halide battery

Abstract

A battery includes an anode, an electrolyte including a solvent and at least one ion conducting salt, and a cathode including a metal halide salt incorporated into an electrically conductive material. The electrolyte is in contact with the anode, the cathode, and an oxidizing gas.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A battery, comprising:
 an anode that takes up metal ions from an electrolyte during charging, and releases the ions to the electrolyte during discharging, the electrolyte comprising a solvent and an ion conducting salt;   a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer contacting the anode, the SEI layer including an oxide of the metal ions; and   a cathode comprising a matrix of an electrically conductive porous material and a metal halide interspersed in the matrix, wherein the total amount of the metal halide in the cathode exceeds the amount of the metal halide that is dissolvable in the electrolyte.   
     
     
         2 . The battery of  claim 1 , further comprising a separator between the anode and the cathode. 
     
     
         3 . The battery of  claim 1 , comprising an oxidizing gas selected from the group consisting of air, oxygen, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the metal halide salt comprises (i) an ion of at least one of I, Br, Cl, and F, and (ii) the metal ion comprises at least one of Li, Mg, Zn, Al and Na. 
     
     
         5 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the total amount of the metal halide in the cathode is at least twice the amount of the metal halide that is dissolvable in the electrolyte. 
     
     
         6 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive porous material is selected from the group consisting of carbon black, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, activated carbon, amorphous carbon, graphite, graphene, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises a halogen diatomic molecule selected from the group consisting of I 2 , Br 2 , Cl 2 , and F 2 . 
     
     
         8 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises a polymeric binder. 
     
     
         9 . The battery of  claim 8 , wherein the polymeric binder is selected from the group consisting of polytrifluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte is non-aqueous. 
     
     
         11 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the solvent in the electrolyte is selected from the group consisting of tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydropyran, tetrahydrothiophene, oxathiolane, oxolane, dioxolane, succinimide, oxazolidone, γ-butyrolactone, γ-caprolactone, ε-caprolactone, γ-valerolactone, pyrrolidine, imidazolidine, sulfolane, thiane, valeronitrile, nonanenitrile, hexanenitrile, acetonitrile, propionitrile, glutaronitrile, methoxyacetonitrile, methoxybenzonitrile, methoxypropionitrile, methylglutaronitrile, butoxypropionitrile, butoxybenzonitrile, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The battery of  claim 14 , wherein the solvent in the electrolyte comprises a heterocyclic compound selected from the group consisting of cyclic ethers, cyclic esters, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The battery of  claim 14 , wherein the solvent in the electrolyte comprises a nitrile compound. 
     
     
         14 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the ion conducting salt comprises (i) a metal ion selected from the group consisting of Li, Mg, Zn, Al and Na, and mixtures and combinations thereof and (ii) an anion selected from the group consisting of nitrate (NO3−), hexafluorophosphate (PF6−), tetrafluoroborate (BF4−), bisoxalato borate (BOB−), and difluorooxalato borate (DFOB−), trifluoromethanesulfonate (TF−), trifluorosulfonylimide (TFSI−), and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The battery of  claim 1 , wherein the anode is made from a material selected from the group consisting of metals, metalloids, nonmetals, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The battery of  claim 15 , wherein the anode is a metal selected from the group consisting of Li, Mg, Zn, Al, Na, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The battery of  claim 15 , wherein the anode is a metalloid selected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, Sb, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The battery of  claim 15 , wherein the nonmetal comprises carbon. 
     
     
         19 . The battery of  claim 1 , further comprising an anode current collector contacting the anode, wherein the anode current collector is selected from the group consisting of copper, copper oxide, zinc, zinc oxide, nickel oxide, and mixtures and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The battery of  claim 1 , further comprising a cathode current collector contacting the cathode, wherein the cathode current collector is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, molybdenum, chromium, iron, nickel, stainless steel, and mixtures and combinations thereof.