USE OF A TEXTILE, ZERO-GAP ELECTROLYTIC CELL AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR

Abstract

A textile can be configured as a spacer between a housing or a supporting structure and an electrode or a substructure of an electrode of a zero-gap electrolytic cell. The textile may comprise a mechanical connection means composed of an elastic polymeric material and may comprise an electrical connection means different from the mechanical connection means. A zero-gap electrolytic cell can be furnished with such a textile. Further, a method for producing such a zero-gap electrolytic cell may be characterized in that at least one ply of a textile is placed into an anode tank or cathode tank, an anode or cathode electrode is disposed on the at least one ply of the textile, an ion exchange membrane is placed onto this electrode, and a cathode electrode or anode electrode connected to a cathode tank or anode tank, respectively, is disposed on the ion exchange membrane.

Claims

1.-12. (canceled)

13. A textile configured as a spacer between a housing or a supporting structure and an electrode or a substructure of the electrode of a zero-gap electrolytic cell, the textile comprising: mechanical connection means composed of an elastic polymeric material, wherein the mechanical connection means has top and bottom fabrics made of filaments, with pile threads connecting the top and bottom fabrics; and electrical connection means that is different than the mechanical connection means.

14. The process of claim 13 wherein the electrical connection means is configured as an electrically conductive coating of the pile threads.

15. The process of claim 13 wherein the electrical connection means comprises metal wires passing through the top and bottom fabrics.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein the metal wires have a diameter of 0.05 to 0.30 mm.

17. The process of claim 15 wherein the electrical connection means is configured as an electrically conductive coating of the pile threads, wherein the metal wires or the electrically conductive coating, respectively, are comprised of nickel or a nickel alloy.

18. The process of claim 13 wherein the filaments of the mechanical connection means have a diameter of 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

19. A zero-gap electrolytic cell comprising: an anode electrode; a cathode electrode; an ion exchange membrane disposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode; a housing comprised of an anode tank and a cathode tank; and a ply of a textile disposed between and in contact with at least one of the electrodes and one of the tanks, the textile comprising: mechanical connection means composed of an elastic polymeric material, wherein the mechanical connection means has top and bottom fabrics made of filaments, with pile threads connecting the top and bottom fabrics, and electrical connection means that is different than the mechanical connection means.

20. The zero-gap electrolytic cell of claim 19 wherein the ply of the textile contacts the cathode electrode and the cathode tank.

21. A method for producing the zero-gap electrolytic cell of claim 19, comprising: placing the ply of the textile into the anode tank or the cathode tank; positioning the anode electrode or the cathode electrode on the ply of the textile; placing the ion exchange membrane onto the anode electrode or the cathode electrode that is positioned on the ply of the textile; placing the ion exchange membrane onto the electrode that is positioned on the ply of the textile; and positioning the cathode electrode or the anode electrode connected to the cathode tank or the anode tank, respectively, on the ion exchange membrane.

22. The method of claim 21 comprising compressing the textile upon introducing the one of the electrodes and one of the tanks such that the textile lies against the respective electrode and the respective tank with a contact pressure resulting from an elasticity of the mechanical connection means.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the contact pressure is 100 to 150 mbar.

Description

[0028] The invention is described below using exemplary embodiments, with reference to the appended figures, in which:

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a schematized perspective side view of the use of a textile in the invention in the unloaded state (to the exclusion of representing the electrical connection means),

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the textile used in the invention as in FIG. 1 in the loaded state,

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a side view of the textile used in the invention as in FIG. 1, with the inclusion of showing the mechanical and electrical connection means,

[0032] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the textile used in the invention in an alternative embodiment, with the inclusion of showing the mechanical and, shown additionally in the cross section, electrical connection means, and

[0033] FIG. 5 shows the method of the invention for producing a zero-gap electrolytic cell.

[0034] In the various figures, identical parts are always given the same reference symbols and are therefore in general also named or mentioned only once in each case.

[0035] The use of a textile 1 for connection between a housing and an electrode of a zero-gap electrolytic cell is shown illustratively in FIG. 1 in the unloaded state. The mechanical connection means exclusively is pictured here, whereas the electrical connection means is not shown, for reasons of clarity. The textile 1 used in the invention comprises top and bottom fabrics 2, 3 woven from filaments, and also pile threads 4 connecting the top and bottom fabrics 2, 3. The top and bottom fabrics 2, 3 have a planar design running parallel to one another, because, in their installed state between electrode and rear housing wall of an electrolytic half-cell, they serve for the extremely uniform transmission of a force which acts on the rear housing wall and which is directed into the interior of the electrolytic cell. If the rear housing wall is subjected to a force toward the interior of the electrolytic cell, the bottom fabric 2 carries out transmission—mediated via the pile threads 4—of the force to the top fabric 3 which contacts one electrode. In order to reduce the directional dependence of the deformation, it is also possible to use a textile wherein the mechanical connection means cross one another, so that there is no preferential mechanical direction.

[0036] This transmission of force is reproduced schematically in FIG. 2, which shows a loaded textile. The lower force arrow here corresponds to a rear housing wall acting with the force F on the bottom fabric 2, the wall not being shown. Mediated via the pile threads 4, which are elastically deformed as a result of exposure to the force, the force F is transmitted to the top fabric 3, which passes on the force F to an electrode which is likewise not shown but which contacts the top fabric 3, in order to press the electrode uniformly and therefore particularly gently against the membrane and/or to maintain the electrode in position without using additional components, especially welded metal plates or expanded metals. In this context it has proven particularly advantageous that the mechanical connection means consists of an elastic polymeric material, polymeric filaments in the present case, since this allows plastic deformations to be effectively prevented, and the lifetime of the textile of the invention is therefore not adversely effected by exposure to the force F.

[0037] FIG. 3, which relates to the same exemplary embodiment as FIG. 1, illustrates not only the mechanical connection means, which is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 for different states of loading, but also the electrical connection means. In this exemplary embodiment the electrical connection means is realized by metal wires 5 which pass through the top and bottom fabrics 2, 3. It is apparent here that a metal wire 5 extending from the bottom fabric 2 pierces through the downward-facing side of the top fabric 3 and runs substantially parallel to the plane of the top fabric 3, on the upward-facing side of the top fabric 3, before passing again through the upward-facing side of the top fabric 3, and then being passed, similarly, through the bottom fabric 2 as well. In this way, the downward-facing side of the bottom fabric 2 and also the upward-facing side of the top fabric 3 are provided with metal wire 5, thereby producing a reliable electrically conductive connection for contacting the rear housing wall and the electrode, without having to undertake excessive deployment of metal, especially nickel.

[0038] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the textile used in the invention according to an alternative embodiment, including showing the mechanical and electrical connection means. In this embodiment, the top and bottom fabrics 2, 3 of the mechanical connection means are connected to one another by coated pile threads 6, this connection being both mechanical and electrical. The mechanical connection of the top and bottom fabrics 2, 3 here is accomplished, as in the above-described preferred embodiment in FIGS. 1 to 3, by pile threads 4 composed of elastic polymeric filaments. The electrical connection of the top and bottom fabrics 2, 3 and hence of the adjacent rear housing wall and also electrode is realized—as illustrated by the cross-sectional representation of a coated pile thread 6—via an electrically conductive coating 7 of the pile threads 4. The coated pile threads 6 here may have been produced by coating of the pile threads 4 with an electrically conductive layer, preferably a metal, either before or after the weaving procedure.

[0039] A representation of the method of the invention for producing a zero-gap electrolytic cell of the invention is shown in FIG. 5 (from top to bottom). In a first step, at least one ply of a textile 1 is placed into an anode or cathode tank 8, 9—here the cathode tank 8, which is also referred to as the rear housing wall. Subsequently an anode or cathode electrode 10, 11—here the cathode electrode 10—is disposed on the at least one ply of the textile 1, before an ion exchange membrane 12 is placed onto this electrode. To complete the zero-gap electrolytic cell 13, lastly, a cathode or anode electrode 10, 11—here the anode electrode 11—connected to a cathode or anode tank 8, 9—here the anode tank 9—is disposed on the ion exchange membrane 12.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0040] 1 textile [0041] 2 bottom fabric [0042] 3 top fabric [0043] 4 pile thread [0044] 5 metal wire [0045] 6 coated pile thread [0046] 7 electrically conductive coating [0047] 8 cathode tank [0048] 9 anode tank [0049] 10 cathode electrode [0050] 11 anode electrode [0051] 12 ion exchange membrane [0052] 13 zero-gap electrolytic cell [0053] F force