US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Eric R Petersen

Michael Binder

Charles W Walker, Jr

William L Wade, Jr

Sol Gilman

Carbon black powder is pretreated with acetone or methanol prior to cathode abrication to improve the cathode operating voltage and increase the cathode life of lithium sulfuryl chloride electrochemical cells.

Method of pretreating carbon black powder to improve cathode performance

A porous carbon cathode for use in an electrochemical cell is made by wetg the carbon black with a 1:1 to 1:3 mixture of isopropyl alcohol:water, adding a binding agent thereto, smearing the resulting stiff paste on a thin expanded metal screen and pressing and rolling to the desired thickness, drying the cathode sheet in a vacuum oven at about 100.degree. C. for one hour while a weight is placed above and below the cathode sheet which is sandwiched between two pieces of blotting paper, the total weight applied being sufficient for the cathode to retain structural integrity, removing the weight and blotting papers and inserting the cathode sheet in an elevated drying oven at about 280.degree. C. for about one hour, and cooling the cathode sheet between blotting paper, repressing and rolling. Cathodes prepared by this method appear structurally strong, maintain their physical integrity with a minimum of cracking and flaking, and do not crumble when cut. The porous carbon cathode is particularly advantageous when included in a lithium sulfuryl chloride cell, but can be used in any system requiring porous carbon cathodes.

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Manchester, NJ, United States of America

Eric R Petersen