ZEBRA molten salt electrolyte

The molten salt electrolyte also contributes to the safety behavior of ZEBRA cells. The large amount of energy stored in a 700 g cell, which means about 30 kWh in a 300 kg battery, is not released suddenly as heat as be expected in a system with liquid electrodes such as the sodium sulfur cell. In the case of accidental destruction of ZEBRA cells, the sodium will react mainly with the molten salt, forming A1 sponge and NaCl. -The diffusion of the NaAICI ... 

Finally, high-temperature molten salt electrolyte batteries (NaS, Zebra) require completely inorganic separators capable of withstanding liquid metal temperature and chemical attack, effectively acidic conditions at temperatures >200 °C. Beta-AlaOs has been significantly engineered to serve this role [10]. 

The molten salt, sodium aluminum chloride, fulfills two other tasks in the cell system. The ceramic electrolyte "-alumina is sensitive to high-current spots. The inner surface of the ceramic electrolyte tube is completely covered with molten salt, leading to uniform current distribution over the ceramic surface. This uniform current flow is one reason for the excellent cycle life of ZEBRA batteries. 

Such a battery was proposed for the first time by Yu et al. [475] and by Gray et al. [470], These batteries utilize the same pair of electrodes as the Zebra battery, Na/FeCl2, but the electrolyte is a room temperature molten salt, A1C13-MEIC-NaCl. Yu et al. [475] used this electrolyte with the following composition 47 45 8 mole%. Gray et al. [470] proposed the addition of HC1 to the electrolyte. The electrode reactions during discharge are... 

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