The development of a reactor for the manufacture of zinc electrodes for a silver oxide-zinc battery

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Silver/Zinc batteries are extensively used for applications where a power source witha high energy density is needed. A reactor was developed to manufacture the zincelectrodes for these batteries. The parameters for the control of this reactor wereidentified. The interaction and relationships between the set of parameters wereestablished and quantified. The novel design of the reactor includes features such ascontinuous replenishment of the constituting chemicals, parallel flow of the platingfluid, inert anodes and a serial electrical layout. The controlling parameters consist ofboth chemical and physical parameters. They are - zincate concentration, hydroxylconcentration, density, temperature, flow rate of the plating fluid, and current density.The unique solubility characteristics of zinc oxide in potassium hydroxide lendthemselves to a novel approach for the determination of the zincate concentration in·the plating solution. A set of conditions for the manufacturing of electrodes, with therequired characteristics, was identified. The requirements are densely packed zincdendrite morphology with high porosity and mechanical stability. The designedreactor complies with the industries safety requirements. The batteries weresuccessfully applied in their operational domain (torpedoes) after this extensiveresearch project was completed.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University