Water-Activated Battery With Basic Copper Salt Cathode
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Solution Overview
Problem
Water-activated batteries for aircraft and seafaring vessels face challenges in high humidity environments, where existing materials are sensitive to humidity, leading to premature activation, short lifespan, high cost, and the use of toxic materials, while also needing to meet stringent light intensity and shelf-life requirements.
Innovation Solution
A water-activated battery design featuring a cathode with a skeletal frame supporting basic copper salts, such as Cu(OH)2 combined with CuX, and an anode made of magnesium, with a housing structure that includes a lower aperture for water ingress and an upper aperture for hydrogen venting, allowing hydrogen to accumulate and be expelled in large bubbles, reducing humidity sensitivity and activation time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional cathode materials (cuprous chloride, copper sulfate, lead chloride) are used in water-activated batteries, then the battery can be activated by water immersion, but the cathode materials are sensitive to humidity during storage causing premature activation and short shelf life
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameters of the cathode material by using basic copper salts (such as basic copper sulfate, basic copper carbonate, basic copper acetate, or basic copper chloride) instead of traditional cathode materials. These basic copper salts have lower solubility and reduced hygroscopicity, which fundamentally alters the material's interaction with humidity while maintaining water activation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs composite cathode structures combining basic copper salts with conductive materials (such as carbon black, graphite, or metal powders) and binders. This composite approach enhances the cathode's stability against humidity while preserving electrical conductivity and activation performance, creating a material system that balances multiple conflicting requirements.
2Device complexity
If cuprous chloride or other traditional cathode materials are used, then the battery structure is simple, but the cathode expands in high humidity causing cavity collapse and electrode shorting
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical and chemical parameters of the cathode material by selecting basic copper salts with appropriate solubility products and crystal structures. These material parameter changes result in cathodes that maintain structural integrity under humid storage conditions, preventing the expansion and cavity collapse that occur with traditional materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies different material properties to different regions of the cathode structure. The cathode comprises basic copper salt particles distributed within a matrix of conductive material and binder, creating local regions with different functions: the basic copper salt provides activation control, the conductive material ensures electron transport, and the binder maintains structural stability. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between structural simplicity and stability.
3Speed
If highly soluble cathode materials are used for fast activation, then the battery activates quickly upon water immersion, but the cathode dissolves too rapidly causing early battery failure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the solubility parameter of the cathode material by using basic copper salts with controlled solubility products. These salts dissolve at a moderate rate that allows rapid battery activation (within the required time frame) while preventing excessive dissolution that would lead to early failure. The basic copper salt composition provides a balanced dissolution kinetics profile.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a dynamic activation process where the cathode material dissolution rate is optimized to match the battery's operational requirements. The basic copper salts provide a dissolution rate that is fast enough for quick activation but self-regulating to prevent premature exhaustion of the cathode material, thereby extending battery lifespan while maintaining rapid response.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If water-soluble films with low WVTR are used to protect the cathode, then humidity protection is provided in low/medium humidity, but in high humidity the films have high WVTR and are ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the fundamental approach to humidity protection by selecting cathode materials (basic copper salts) with inherently low hygroscopicity and controlled solubility. This material parameter change eliminates the need for protective films with varying WVTR characteristics, as the cathode itself is resistant to humidity across the full range of environmental conditions, from low to high humidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the humidity protection function from the protective film layer and transfers it to the cathode material itself. By using basic copper salts with low solubility and hygroscopicity, the cathode inherently resists humidity without requiring additional protective layers, thereby eliminating the limitation of film-based protection that fails in high humidity environments.
5Reliability
If basic copper salts with low solubility are used, then humidity stability is improved, but activation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the solubility product parameter of the basic copper salt to achieve a balance between humidity stability and activation speed. By carefully selecting among different basic copper salts (sulfate, carbonate, acetate, or chloride) and controlling their particle size and surface area, the invention achieves both rapid activation and high humidity stability simultaneously, resolving the apparent contradiction between these two parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates local quality variations within the cathode structure by using a composite of basic copper salt particles with different surface characteristics and a binder matrix. The surface regions of the basic copper salt particles provide rapid dissolution for quick activation, while the bulk material maintains low solubility for humidity stability. This local differentiation allows the cathode to exhibit both fast activation and high stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly reduces activation time, prolongs the battery's lifespan in high humidity environments, and lowers production costs while maintaining compliance with aerospace standards for light intensity and shelf-life requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a water-activated, deferred-action battery having a housing containing at least one cell, comprising at least one anode selected from the group consisting of magnesium, aluminum, zinc and alloys thereof; a cathode comprising a skeletal frame supporting at least one basic copper salt
Implementation Method 2
dissolve a salt contained in the WAB to provide ions so that an ionic current is created between the electrodes powering the lamp
Implementation Method 3
a lower aperture at the base of the housing for ingress of water
Implementation Method 4
an upper aperture located near top of the housing for venting hydrogen generated by the post immersion reaction, wherein said upper aperture is positioned below the top of the cavity provide a void for trapping hydrogen
Data Source
AI summary
A Water Activated Battery characterized bya) At least one anode selected from the group consisting of magnesium, aluminum, zinc and alloys thereof;b) A cathode comprising at least one basic copper salt comprising Cu(OH)2 combined with a copper salt CuX (with n−1 the molar ratio between the CuX and the Cu(OH)2 in the basic copper salt), such that a discharge reaction in saline versus a Mg anode could be written nMg+Cu(OH)2.(n-1)CuX=Mg(OH)2+(n−1)MgX+nCu) on a skeletal frame, the cathode further comprising a soluble, ionically conductive material;c) at least one cavity separating said cathode and said at least one anode; andd) a housing surrounding said at least one anode, cathode and cavity;(e) a lower aperture at the base of the housing for ingress of water and for expelling of heavier than water products of post immersion reaction, and(f) an upper aperture located near top of the housing for venting hydrogen generated by the post immersion reaction,wherein the upper aperture is positioned below the top of housing to create a cavity to provide a void for trapping hydrogen, so that hydrogen is only expelled from the cavity via the upper aperture after a quantity has accumulated, and is expelled in bubbles having a diameter of at least one millimeter.