Superconducting BSCCO Ceramics as Additive to the Zinc Electrode Mass in the Rechargeable Nickel-Zinc Batteries

Antonia Evgenieva Stoyanova; L. Stoyanov; S. Terzieva; A. Stoyanova-Ivanova; M. Mladenov; D. Kovacheva; R. Raicheff

Antonia Evgenieva Stoyanova Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
L. Stoyanov Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems BAS, 10 G. Bonchev Str., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
S. Terzieva Institute of Solid State Physics BAS, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussee, Blvd., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
A. Stoyanova-Ivanova Institute of Solid State Physics BAS, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussee, Blvd., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
M. Mladenov Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
D. Kovacheva Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry BAS, 10 G. Bonchev Str., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
R. Raicheff Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Keywords: Superconducting Ceramics, Zinc Electrode, Electrode Mass, Additives, Alkaline Nickel-Zinc Battery.

Abstract

The electronic conductivity of the main component of the zinc electrode in the rechargeable zinc-nickel battery – ZnO, is rather poor and this is the main reason for the electrochemical heterogeneity of the anode mass and the loss of active surface area during charge/discharge cycling with a corresponding negative effect on the electrode characteristics In the present work, the possibility of application of superconductive cuprate Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) ceramic as a multifunctional conductive additive to the zinc electrode mass is studied. Powder samples of the BSCCO ceramic Bi_1,7Pb_0,3Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O_x are produced by two-stage solid-state synthesis and they are physicochemically characterized. The XRD patterns and SEM observation reveal a well crystallized single phase of superconducting 2212 BSCCO system with average crystallite size 5-10 µm. The chemical stability of BSCCO ceramics in highly alkaline medium of the Ni-Zn battery is confirmed by structural and morphological analysis (XRD, SEM and EDX) of the samples before and after prolong exposure (96 h) to 7M KOH. The electrochemical tests are carried out by a specially designed prismatic alkaline Ni-Zn battery cell with conventional sintered type nickel electrodes and pasted zinc electrode with active electrode mass based on ZnO (88 wt.%) and addition of BSCCO powder or acetylene black as conductive additives. The study show that the zinc electrode with BSCCO superconducting ceramic additive exhibits very good cycleability, remarkable capacity stability and much higher discharge capacity at prolong charge/discharge cycling in comparison to the zinc electrode with the “classic” carbon conductive additive. It is suggested that the addition of BSCCO ceramics improves not only conductivity of the electrode mass and reduces the gas evolution but also stabilizes porosity structure. The results obtained prove the possibility of application of superconducting BSCCO ceramics as a multifunctional additive to the active mass of the zinc electrodes for alkaline battery systems.

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