Negative current collector assembly of liquid metal battery

Abstract

The utility model provides a negative electrode current collector assembly of a liquid metal battery, which relates to the technical field of liquid metal batteries and comprises a current collecting rod, a current collecting piece and foam metal, a center hole is formed in the current collecting piece, and the middle of the current collecting rod is arranged in the center hole. Edge flanging sleeves are arranged on the outer edges of the current collecting pieces; a plurality of fixing threaded holes are formed in the current collecting piece, and the foam metal is attached to the lower surface of the current collecting piece. The negative electrode current collector assembly of the liquid metal battery has the beneficial effects that the preparation process of each component of the current collector is simple, batch production or direct purchase of standard components can be realized, other special-shaped structures are not needed, the processing efficiency is high, the consistency of each component is good, and the preparation cost is low; the assembling process is simple, and the method is suitable for industrial production.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to liquid metal battery technical field, concretely is a kind of liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly. BACKGROUND

[0002] Liquid metal battery is a new type of secondary battery applied to grid-level energy storage, and its advantages include high safety performance, long cycle life, high rate performance and simple structure. The battery monomer is mainly composed of negative electrode, positive electrode, electrolyte and battery structural parts. The battery negative electrode is usually an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element or alloy, the positive electrode is usually a transition metal element, alloy or other compound that can form an alloy with the negative electrode and has a certain potential difference with the negative electrode, and the electrolyte is an inorganic salt corresponding to the negative electrode metal. When the liquid metal battery is running, the negative electrode, positive electrode and electrolyte are all in liquid state, and they are self-layered due to different densities and mutual insolubility. The upper layer is the negative liquid metal with the smallest density, the middle layer is the liquid electrolyte, and the lower layer is the positive liquid metal with large density. During discharging, the negative liquid metal loses electrons and undergoes oxidation reaction, and the electrons flow to the positive electrode through the external circuit, forming negative metal ions that move to the positive electrode through the electrolyte layer and undergo alloying reaction at the positive electrode side. The charging process is the reverse of the above process. Through the alloying and dealloying processes in the above process, the liquid metal battery can release and store electric energy and effectively interact with external energy.

[0003] In the current liquid metal battery, the negative electrode current collector itself has a complex structure, and there are multiple special-shaped parts in the structure, which has high processing and preparation cost. At the same time, the assembly process is complex and time-consuming, and the prepared negative electrode current collector has poor uniformity, which leads to the decline of battery performance stability and consistency, which is not conducive to large-scale battery grouping. During the operation of the battery, there is a certain probability of battery failure, and the failure mechanism is mainly that the negative metal directly flows out of the negative electrode current collector and is not completely absorbed by the nickel foam. In the process of improving the energy density of single battery, the amount of negative electrode material is mainly increased, the more the amount of negative electrode material, the more unstable the negative electrode current collector, so it is very important to ensure the stability of the negative electrode current collector.

[0004] In the existing patents related to the negative current collector assembly of liquid metal battery, a single bolt nut is used to connect two pieces of nickel foam, and the connection effect is unstable, which is only suitable for the preparation of small capacity batteries, and is not conducive to scaling up. Secondly, the patent adopts the method of lithium immersion to control the battery capacity, which leads to large differences in cell consistency, and the preparation process of the current collector is complicated (for example, patent CN201710244878.3). Another patent (CN201710930477.3) connects the current collector rod and the porous sheet together by welding. During the welding process, the porous sheet is prone to welding deformation, affecting the parallelism and consistency. At the same time, the nickel foam needs to be processed with a special-shaped slot, and the special-shaped structure is assembled with a single bolt, which is complicated and has high cost of parts. Practical new type content

[0005] Therefore, in order to make the liquid metal battery suitable for industrialization and large-scale production, and solve the problems of high cost of liquid metal battery assembly parts and low assembly efficiency, the utility model provides a kind of liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly;Including current collecting rod, current collecting sheet and foam metal;

[0006] The current collecting sheet is a circular plate, and a center hole is provided on the current collecting sheet, and the middle part of the current collecting rod is arranged in the center hole.

[0007] The outer edge of the current collecting sheet is provided with an edge flange sleeve.

[0008] A plurality of fixed threaded holes are provided on the current collecting sheet, the foam metal is attached to the lower surface of the current collecting sheet, a fixed bolt is arranged in the fixed threaded hole, and the fixed bolt is connected to the threaded hole through the foam metal, so as to fix the foam metal below the current collecting sheet.

[0009] Further, a plurality of sector holes are provided on the current collecting sheet, and a fixed rib plate is formed between adjacent sector holes, and the fixed threaded hole is arranged on the fixed rib plate.

[0010] Further, a center flange sleeve is arranged at the edge of the center hole, a first connecting thread is arranged in the center flange sleeve, and a connecting external thread is arranged at the lower end of the current collecting rod, and the current collecting rod is connected in the center flange sleeve through the thread.

[0011] Further, the number of sector holes is six, and six sector holes divide six fixed rib plates on the current collecting sheet.

[0012] Further, the fixed bolts are all flat head bolts.

[0013] Further, a plurality of mounting through holes are provided on the foam metal for passing through the flat head bolts, and the diameter of the mounting through hole is equal to the diameter of the flat head bolt.

[0014] Further, the current collecting rod is coaxially arranged with the current collecting sheet.

[0015] Further, the current collecting rod is made of one of stainless steel, oxygen-free copper and titanium alloy, the current collecting sheet is made of one of stainless steel, carbon structural steel, pure copper, copper alloy and titanium alloy, the foam metal is one or more of Al, Cu, Ni, NiCrFe, ZnCu, NiCu, NiCrW and NiFe, and the flat head bolt is made of one of stainless steel, carbon structural steel, copper and copper alloy.

[0016] The liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly has the following advantages:

[0017] (1) The liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly comprises a current collecting rod, a current collecting sheet and a foam metal, the current collecting sheet is provided with a center hole, and the middle part of the current collecting rod is arranged in the center hole. The outer edge of the current collecting sheet is provided with an edge flanging sleeve. The current collecting sheet is provided with a plurality of fixed threaded holes, and the foam metal is attached to the lower surface of the current collecting sheet. The components of the negative electrode current collector are simple to prepare, can realize batch production or direct procurement of standard parts, have no other special-shaped structures, have high processing efficiency, good consistency of the components, and low preparation cost. The standard bolt structure is used to connect the foam metal and the current collecting sheet, and then the current collecting sheet is directly fastened and connected with the outer thread of the current collecting rod through the threaded hole of the center flanging, so that the preparation of the whole negative electrode current collector is completed, the assembly process is simple, there is no welding process, the structural deformation caused by welding does not exist, the consistency of the negative electrode current collector is high after assembly is completed, automatic assembly can be realized, and the negative electrode current collector is suitable for industrial production.

[0018] (2) The liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly adopts a plurality of flat head bolts to fasten the foam nickel on the current collecting sheet, the lower end of the current collecting sheet is tightly attached to the foam metal, the foam metal cannot be stressed in a large area and does not deform, and the bolts play a role in simultaneously fixing the axial and longitudinal directions of the foam metal.

[0019] (3) The edge flanging structure feature of the current collecting sheet is used to limit the flow of the negative electrode metal in the battery in the first activation process, so that the negative electrode metal can only be adsorbed by the foam metal, direct contact of the liquid negative electrode metal or alloy with the battery shell or free floating on the electrolyte is avoided, the stability of the battery in the first activation process is ensured, meanwhile, the structure feature can maximize the use amount of the negative electrode metal or alloy under the condition of ensuring the stability of the battery, and effectively improve the energy density of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] Fig. 1 is a top view of the liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly of the utility model embodiment.

[0021] Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly of the utility model embodiment.

[0022] In the above figure: 1 - current collector, 11 - fan-shaped hole, 12 - fixed rib plate, 13 - fixed threaded hole, 2 - center flange sleeve, 3 - edge flange sleeve, 4 - current collector rod, 5 - foam metal, 6 - fixed bolt. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the utility model clearer, the utility model embodiment will be further described below with reference to the drawings.

[0024] Please refer to Figs. 1-2 The utility model discloses a liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly, which comprises a current collector rod 4, a current collector 1 and a foam metal 5.

[0025] The current collector 1 is a circular plate, and a center hole is arranged on the current collector 1, and the middle part of the current collector rod 4 is arranged in the center hole.

[0026] An edge flange sleeve is arranged at the edge of the current collector 1.

[0027] A plurality of fixed threaded holes 13 are arranged on the current collector 1, the foam metal 5 is attached to the lower surface of the current collector 1, a fixed bolt 6 is arranged in the fixed threaded hole 13, the fixed bolt 6 is connected to the fixed threaded hole 13 from below through the foam metal 5, so that the foam metal 5 is fixed below the current collector 1.

[0028] Further, a plurality of through hole structures are arranged on the current collector 1, the through hole structures penetrate the current collector 1, the number and shape of the through hole structures can be various, and the shape can be a circular hole, a special-shaped hole or the like; in the embodiment, the through hole structure is a fan-shaped hole 11, the fixed rib plate 12 is formed between adjacent fan-shaped holes 11, and the fixed threaded hole 13 is arranged on the fixed rib plate 12.

[0029] In the preferred embodiment, a center flange sleeve 2 is arranged at the edge of the center hole, a first connecting thread is arranged in the center flange sleeve 2, a connecting external thread is arranged at the lower end of the current collector rod 4, and the current collector rod 4 is connected to the center flange sleeve 2 through the thread connection; the center flange sleeve 2 and the edge flange sleeve on the current collector are used to limit the flow of the negative electrode metal in the first activation process, so that the negative electrode metal can only be adsorbed by the foam metal 5 through the fan-shaped hole, direct contact of the liquid metal or alloy with the battery shell or floating on the electrolyte is avoided, and the stability of the battery in the activation process is ensured, so that the use amount of the negative electrode metal or alloy can be maximized, and the energy density of the battery can be effectively improved.

[0030] In the preferred embodiment, the number of the fan-shaped holes 11 is six, and the six fan-shaped holes 11 divide six fixed rib plates on the current collector 1. Each fixed rib plate has two fixed threaded holes 13.

[0031] In the preferred embodiment, the fixing bolts 6 are all flat head bolts, which are standard parts. The foam metal 5 is provided with a plurality of mounting through holes for the flat head bolts, the mounting through holes are equal in diameter to the flat head bolts, and the lower part of the mounting through holes is further provided with a stepped hole for accommodating the nut part of the flat head bolt, so that the flat head bolt can be completely screwed into the foam metal 5, so that the lower surface of the flat head bolt is flush with the lower surface of the foam metal 5 (in this embodiment, the structure in which the lower surface of the flat head bolt is flush with the lower surface of the foam metal is not shown in the figure).

[0032] In the preferred embodiment, the current collector rod 4 is coaxially arranged with the current collector sheet 1.

[0033] In the preferred embodiment, the current collector rod is made of one of stainless steel, oxygen-free copper and titanium alloy, the current collector sheet 1 is made of one of stainless steel, carbon structural steel, pure copper, copper alloy and titanium alloy, the foam metal 5 is made of one or more of Al, Cu, Ni, NiCrFe, ZnCu, NiCu, NiCrW and NiFe, and the flat head bolt is made of one of stainless steel, carbon structural steel, copper and copper alloy.

[0034] The manufacturing process of the above-mentioned liquid metal battery negative electrode current collector assembly is as follows:

[0035] S1: The lower end of the current collector rod 4 is machined to connect external threads;

[0036] S2: The current collector sheet is processed by stamping; specifically, the circular outer shape of the current collector sheet is blanked and punched; the positioning hole and the fan-shaped hole are punched once; the positioning hole and the fan-shaped hole are punched twice; the center hole and the outer edge flange are formed by stamping;

[0037] The circular current collector sheet 1 is punched out; the current collector sheet 1 is subjected to secondary stamping to form a center hole and a center flange sleeve 2 connected to the edge of the center hole, an edge flange sleeve and a positioning hole on the current collector sheet 1;

[0038] A plurality of fan-shaped holes 11 are punched out on the circular current collector sheet 1 in step S2.

[0039] S3: Internal threads are machined on the inner wall of the center flange sleeve 2; the positioning hole is tapped to obtain a connecting threaded hole based on the positioning hole;

[0040] S4: The foam metal 5 is cut by laser cutting to match the shape of the current collector sheet 1, and mounting through holes are cut on the foam metal 5;

[0041] S5: The foamed metal 5 is attached to the current collector plate 1, the fixing bolt 6 is passed through the installation through hole from below, and the fixing bolt 6 is screwed into the connecting threaded hole on the current collector plate 1, so as to lock and fix the foamed metal;

[0042] S6: The lower end of the current collector rod 4 is screwed into the center flange sleeve 2.

[0043] In this article, the front, back, up, down and other orientation words are defined by the position of the parts in the drawing and the position of the parts relative to each other in the drawing, just to express the clarity and convenience of the technical scheme. It should be understood that the use of the orientation words should not limit the scope of the application.

[0044] In the case of no conflict, the above-mentioned embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0045] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not used to limit the present application, and any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly, characterized by, The current collector rod, the current collector sheet and the foam metal are included. The current collector sheet is a circular plate, and a center hole is arranged on the current collector sheet. An edge flange sleeve is arranged on the outer edge of the current collector sheet. A plurality of fixing threaded holes are arranged on the current collector sheet, the foam metal is attached to the lower surface of the current collector sheet, a fixing bolt is arranged in the fixing threaded hole, the fixing bolt passes through the foam metal and is connected to the threaded hole, so that the foam metal is fixed below the current collector sheet.

2. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly according to claim 1, wherein, A plurality of fan-shaped holes are arranged on the current collector sheet, and a fixing rib plate is formed between adjacent fan-shaped holes.

3. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly according to claim 1, wherein, A center flange sleeve is arranged on the edge of the center hole, a first connecting thread is arranged in the center flange sleeve, and a connecting external thread is arranged on the lower end of the current collector rod.

4. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly according to claim 2, wherein, The number of the fan-shaped holes is six, and the six fan-shaped holes divide six fixing rib plates on the current collector sheet.

5. The liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly of claim 1, wherein, The fixing bolts are all flat head bolts.

6. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly according to claim 5, wherein, A plurality of mounting through holes for passing through the flat head bolts are arranged on the foam metal, and the diameter of the mounting through hole is equal to the diameter of the flat head bolt.

7. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly according to claim 1, wherein, The current collector rod and the current collector sheet are coaxially arranged.

8. A liquid metal battery negative current collector assembly according to claim 1, wherein, The current collector rod is made of one of stainless steel, oxygen-free copper and titanium alloy, the current collector sheet is made of one of stainless steel, carbon structural steel, pure copper, copper alloy and titanium alloy, the foam metal is one of Al, Cu, Ni, NiCrFe, ZnCu, NiCu, NiCrW and NiFe, and the flat head bolt is made of one of stainless steel, carbon structural steel, copper and copper alloy.

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