Pulsed power molten salt battery development

The authors describe a program aimed at developing a primary reserve pulse power battery design. The program focus at the present time is on developing high-rate chlorine cathodes for the lithium-aluminum/chlorine system. A novel activation treatment has been developed to use porous carbon and graphite materials as chlorine cathodes in this battery system. Results obtained with these electrodes in molten salt cells are discussed. In molten LiCl-KCl at 450 degrees C, these chlorine electrodes deliver the remarkable pulse power performance of 20-25 W/cm/sup 2/. The IR-free cell polarization with LiAl/chlorine cells appears to be ohmic, which is desirable for the pulse power application.<
>