7863 results about "Electrolytic cell" patented technology

The present invention relates to novel electroactive energy storing polyacetylene-co-polysulfur (PAS) materials of general formula (C2Sx)n wherein x is greater than 1 to about 100, and n is equal to or greater than 2. This invention also relates to novel rechargeable electrochemical cells containing positive electrode materials comprised of said polyacetylene-co-polysulfur materials with improved storage capacity and cycle life at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures.

Alkali metals and sulfur may be recovered from alkali polysulfides in an electrolytic process that utilizes an electrolytic cell having an alkali ion conductive membrane. An anolyte solution includes an alkali polysulfide and a solvent that dissolves elemental sulfur. A catholyte solution includes alkali metal ions and a catholyte solvent. Applying an electric current oxidizes sulfur in the anolyte compartment, causes alkali metal ions to pass through the alkali ion conductive membrane to the catholyte compartment, and reduces the alkali metal ions in the catholyte compartment. Sulfur is recovered by removing and cooling a portion of the anolyte solution to precipitate solid phase sulfur. Operating the cell at low temperature causes elemental alkali metal to plate onto the cathode. The cathode may be removed to recover the alkali metal in batch mode or configured as a flexible band to continuously loop outside the catholyte compartment to remove the alkali metal.

The present invention is an apparatus and method for disinfecting or sanitizing a desired object. The apparatus includes a container for an aqueous solution; the container may be a spray bottle. The apparatus includes an electrolytic cell, containing an electrolyte, an electrical power source, a control circuit for providing an electric charge to the electrolyte to create an oxidant, and a fluid connection between the cell and container to permit introduction of the oxidant into the aqueous solution to create a disinfectant.

Disclosed are processes of making solutions of alkali alkoxides in their corresponding alcohols using an electrolytic process. In one embodiment, sodium methoxide in methanol is made from methanol and aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, where the aqueous sodium hydroxide solution is present in the anolyte compartment and a solution of sodium methoxide in methanol is present in the catholyte compartment, the two compartments are separated by a ceramic membrane that selectively transports sodium ions under the influence of an electric potential, and wherein the composition of the solution of sodium methoxide in methanol in the catholyte compartment of the electrolytic cell comprises between at least about 2% by weight sodium methoxide and at most about 20% by weight sodium methoxide.

The invention relates to a nano silicon-carbon composite negative material for lithium ion batteries and a preparation method thereof. A porous electrode composed of silica and carbon is taken as a raw material, and a nano silicon-carbon composite material of carbon-loaded nano silicon is formed by a molten salt electrolysis method in a manner of silica in-situ electrochemical reduction. Silicon and carbon of the material are connected by nano silicon carbide, and are metallurgical-grade combination, so that the electrochemical cycle stability of the nano silicon-carbon composite material is improved. The preparation method of the nano silicon-carbon composite material provided by the invention comprises the following steps: compounding a porous block composed of carbon and silica powder with a conductive cathode collector as a cathode; using graphite or an inert anode as an anode, and putting the cathode and anode into CaCl₂ electrolyte or mixed salt melt electrolyte containing CaCl₂ to form an electrolytic cell; applying voltage between the cathode and the anode; controlling the electrolytic voltage, the electrolytic current density and the electrolytic quantity, so that silica in the porous block is deoxidized into nano silicon by electrolytic reduction, and the nano silicon-carbon composite material for lithium ion batteries is prepared at the cathode.

A method of packaging a rectangular electrolytic battery, comprising the steps of forming a sleeve from a flat, rectangular sheet of a laminate material by overlapping and joining opposite edges of the sheet; inserting a rectangular battery into one end of the sleeve, the battery having two electronic contacting leads extending from one side thereof and the battery being positioned within the sleeve wherein a portion of the leads is within the sleeve and a portion of the leads is outside said sleeve; joining the ends of the sleeve to form a seal along each end thereof, hermetically sealing the interior of the sleeve, one end of the sleeve forming a seal about the leads and the other end of the sleeve sealed adjacent the battery.

The invention relates to a method to construct ordered structure on base, and the application of using the base to construct metal ordered structure. The method includes the following steps: adopting inorganic base or polymer base, taking base surface process to make it could conduct electricity, construct ordered microstructure of different functional group or macromolecule barrier layer; assembling the metal nanometer particle into the ordered structure to gain metal nanometer ordered structure. The invention could be widely used in making high sensitive metal sensor and detector.

A system and process for de-halogenating ballast water before releasing the ballast water from the vessel. In one embodiment, the system comprises a means for measuring the halogen content of the ballast water, a reducing agent source in fluid communication with the ballast water, and a means for controlling the amount of reducing agent supplied to the ballast water. In one aspect, the means for measuring the halogen content comprises one or more oxidation/reduction potential analyzers. In another embodiment, the system comprises one or more hypochlorite electrolytic cells for generating hypochlorite to treat the ballast water.

One embodiment of the process for de-halogenating ballast water comprises measuring the oxidation/reduction potential of the ballast water and adding one or more reducing agents to the ballast water to de-halogenate the ballast water in response to the measured oxidation/reduction potential. In one aspect, the oxidation/reduction potential is modulated so that excess reducing agent is present in the ballast water.

A system for purification of high value metals comprises an electrolytic cell in which an anode formed of a composite of a metal oxide of the metal of interest with carbon is electrochemically reduced in a molten salt electrolyte.

An electrochemical process and apparatus for preparing metal hydride compounds from metal salts under a hydrogen atmosphere are disclosed. The electrochemical process may be integrated with chemical reaction of a boron compound to produce borohydride compounds. A metal salt and a borate are charged to the cathode of an electrolytic cell wherein the borate reacts with the hydride, to produce the borohydride compound.

A method that produces coupled radical products from biomass. The method involves obtaining a lipid or carboxylic acid material from the biomass. This material may be a carboxylic acid, an ester of a carboxylic acid, a triglyceride of a carboxylic acid, or a metal salt of a carboxylic acid, or any other fatty acid derivative. This lipid material or carboxylic acid material is converted into an alkali metal salt. The alkali metal salt is then used in an anolyte as part of an electrolytic cell. The electrolytic cell may include an alkali ion conducting membrane (such as a NaSICON membrane). When the cell is operated, the alkali metal salt of the carboxylic acid decarboxylates and forms radicals. Such radicals are then bonded to other radicals, thereby producing a coupled radical product such as a hydrocarbon. The produced hydrocarbon may be, for example, saturated, unsaturated, branched, or unbranched, depending upon the starting material.

The invention relates to a method for purifying water by forming in an electrolytic cell molecular halogen, hypohalic acid, hypohalite ions or combinations thereof, from halide ions dissolved in the water; and dissolving one or more soluble metal salts in the water to provide corresponding metal ions. The invention also relates to a system for purifying water, having an electrolytic cell comprising a plurality of electrodes sufficient to electrolytically convert halide ion in the water into molecular halogen, hypohalic acid, or hypohalite ions, or combinations thereof; and a metal generator, which provides concentrations of one or more metals to the water.

The invention discloses a preparation method of lithium metal through electrolysis, which comprises the following steps: at normal temperature and normal pressure, applying direct current voltage on an anode current collector and a cathode current collector so that potassium ions in a water phase in an anode chamber penetrate through a diaphragm having lithium ion conductor characteristics under the driving of the voltage, an organic solvent in a cathode chamber is reduced to a metal lithium single substance which is deposited and enriched on the surface of the cathode current collector to obtain the product, wherein the anode chamber of an electrolysis cell is filled with an aqueous solution at least containing the lithium ions, the cathode chamber od the electrolysis cell is filled with the organic solvent having the lithium ion conductor characteristics, the diaphragm for separating the anode chamber from the cathode chamber is a lithium ion conductor ceramic membrane having the lithium ion conductor characteristics or a composite membrane of a lithium ion conductor and a polymer, and the cathode chamber is in inert gas atmosphere. The electrolysis preparation method for lithium metal avoids severe conditions which are required to prepare lithium metal by a traditional high temperature molten electrolysis process, and has the characteristics of low energy consumption, high lithium extraction efficiency and high product purity and is environment-friendly and wide in raw material sources.

The invention relates to an electrode material of a lithium ion battery, in particular to a method for pre-lithiating a cathode material. The method comprises the steps that an electrolytic cell cathode cavity is made of the electrode material such as a lithium ion cathode material and arranged in a lithium ion conductive organic electrolyte; an anode cavity is an aqueous solution containing lithium salt or an organic solution; the anode cavity is separated from the cathode cavity by a lithium ion conductor ceramic membrane or a composite membrane of lithium ion conductor ceramic and a high molecular material; an electric potential and current density are controlled by external circuit charge and discharge equipment to allow lithium ions to migrate to a cathode from an anode through the membrane; and an SEI (Solid Electrolyte Interphase) membrane is formed on the surface of the material; or the electrode material is pre-lithiated. According to the method, a cheap and safe lithium ion saline solution serves as a source of the lithium ion; the SEI membrane is generated for the cathode of the lithium ion battery in advance; or lithium is supplemented to the electrode material; the coulombic efficiency and cycling stability of the cathode material can be improved; a formation process in production of the lithium ion battery in the prior art is simplified; the electrode material and cost are saved; and the method is safe and efficient and has a large-scale application prospect.

An internal combustion engine/water source system for a vehicle powered by a internal combustion engine wherein liquid water is produced by cooling a portion of engine exhaust gases in a vortex tube to induce condensation. In one embodiment, engine exhaust gases are pumped into the vortex tube by a compressor. After removing a portion of water vapor, cooled exhaust gases may be re-introduced to engine's combustion chamber thereby providing an exhaust gas recirculation. In an automotive vehicle, liquid water generated by the invention may be collected and provided to an electrolytic cell for electrolysis into gaseous hydrogen to reduce exhaust pollutants during cold engine start. Alternatively, water generated by the invention may be injected into engine combustion chamber to increase power and to reduce production of nitrogen oxides.

A process and apparatus for reducing an alkali metal salt to an alkali metal through electrolysis in a series of electrolytic cells are disclosed. The process employs as a separator between anode and cathode compartments a material that is both an ionic conductor of the metal ion and an electrical insulator. Preferred metals are sodium, lithium and potassium.

The invention relates to methods for creating high value liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, jet and alcohols using carbon dioxide and water as the starting raw materials and a system for using the same. These methods combine a novel solid oxide electrolytic cell (SOEC) for the efficient and clean conversion of carbon dioxide and water to hydrogen and carbon monoxide, uniquely integrated with a gas-to-liquid fuels producing method.