SEAWATER BATTERY CIRCULATION SYSTEM, SEAWATER BATTERY, CATHODE OF SEAWATER BATTERY AND FABRICATION METHOD THEREOF
20170301927 · 2017-10-19
Inventors
Cpc classification
H01M4/583
ELECTRICITY
International classification
Abstract
A seawater battery includes an anode and a cathode corresponding to the anode. The cathode cooperates with the anode to produce a current and includes a metal substrate and a mixture coating layer. The mixture coating layer covered on the metal substrate includes a conductive polymer material and a plurality of carbon nanotubes mixed with the conductive polymer material.
Claims
1. A cathode of a seawater battery, comprising: a metal substrate; and a mixture coating layer covered on the metal substrate, and comprising: a conductive polymer material; and a plurality of carbon nanotubes mixed with the conductive polymer material.
2. The cathode of claim 1, wherein the metal substrate is a nickel substrate.
3. The cathode of claim 2, wherein the metal substrate is a mesh-shaped substrate.
4. The cathode of claim 1, wherein the conductive polymer material is PEDOT:PSS.
5. The cathode of claim 1, wherein each of the carbon nanotubes is a multi-wall carbon nanotube.
6. A seawater battery, comprising: an anode; and a cathode corresponding to the anode, wherein the cathode cooperates with the anode to produce a current, and the cathode comprises: a metal substrate; and a mixture coating layer covered on the metal substrate, and comprising: a conductive polymer material; and a plurality of carbon nanotubes mixed with the conductive polymer material.
7. The seawater battery of claim 6, wherein the metal substrate is a nickel substrate, and the anode is made of magnalium.
8. The seawater battery of claim 7, wherein the metal substrate is a mesh-shaped substrate.
9. The seawater battery of claim 6, wherein the conductive polymer material is PEDOT:PSS.
10. A fabrication method of a cathode of a seawater battery, comprising: providing a metal substrate; forming a mixture coating liquid, wherein the mixture coating liquid comprises a conductive polymer material and a plurality of carbon nanotubes; coating the mixture coating liquid on the metal substrate; and drying the mixture coating liquid at a room temperature to form a mixture coating layer on an outside surface of the metal substrate.
11. The fabrication method of claim 10, wherein the step of forming the mixture coating liquid comprises: mixing the conductive polymer material and the carbon nanotubes at a storage temperature to form a mixture liquid; and shaking the mixture liquid at the storage temperature via a supersonic vibration to mix the conductive polymer material and the carbon nanotubes uniformly so as to form the mixture coating liquid.
12. The fabrication method of claim 11, wherein the conductive polymer material is PEDOT:PSS, and the storage temperature is 4° C. to 8° C.
13. The fabrication method of claim 10, wherein a weight percentage of the carbon nanotubes in the mixture coating liquid is larger than or equal to 1 and smaller than or equal to 6.
14. The fabrication method of claim 10, wherein the metal substrate is a nickel substrate.
15. A seawater battery circulation system applied to a seawater, comprising: a pumping device for pumping the seawater; a seawater storing device connected to the pumping device, wherein the seawater storing device is for storing the seawater; an aerating device disposed in the seawater storing device, wherein the aerating device is for increasing an amount of dissolved oxygen of the seawater; the seawater battery of claim 6, wherein the seawater battery is connected to the seawater storing device and allows the seawater flowing in to produce a power; and a filtering device connected to the pumping device, wherein the filtering device is for filtering an impurity of the seawater, and comprises: a precipitate collecting device for collecting the impurity.
16. The seawater battery circulation system of claim 15, wherein the aerating device comprises: a plurality of blades agitating the seawater to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen.
17. The seawater battery circulation system of claim 15, wherein the metal substrate of the seawater battery is a mesh-shaped substrate made of nickel.
18. The seawater battery circulation system of claim 17, wherein the conductive polymer material of the seawater battery is PEDOT:PSS.
19. The seawater battery circulation system of claim 15, further comprising: an adjusting unit disposed between the cathode and the anode of the seawater battery, wherein the adjusting unit is for changing a quantity of the seawater flowing form the anode toward the cathode.
20. The seawater battery circulation system of claim 19, wherein the adjusting unit comprises: a first frame, comprising: a plurality of first ribs spaced form each other; and a second frame corresponding to the first frame, wherein the second frame is abutted against the first frame, and comprises: a plurality of second ribs spaced from each other, wherein each of the second ribs is corresponding to each of the first ribs; wherein the first frame is movable between a first position and a second position with respect to the second frame, each of the first ribs overlaps with each of the second ribs while the first frame is at the first position, and each of the first ribs is staggered from each of the second ribs while the first frame is at the second position.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032]
[0033] Therefore, the mixture coating layer 120 covered on the metal substrate 110 can protect the metal substrate 110 from corroding by the seawater, and the conductivity of the conductive polymer material 121 and the carbon nanotubes 122 can increase electron transport ability of the cathode 100. The material, structure and the fabrication method of the cathode 100 will be described in detail in the following paragraphs.
[0034] The metal substrate 110 is used for conducting, which can be made of any metal materials. In the embodiment of
[0035] The mixture coating layer 120 is formed by combining the conductive polymer material 121 with the carbon nanotubes 122, which is a mixture in chemistry, and is for covering the metal substrate 110. Precisely, if the metal substrate 110 is a mesh-shaped substrate and includes a plurality of metal wires, the mixture coating layer 120 will cover on an outside surface of each metal wire.
[0036] Because the conductive polymer material 121 has conductivity, it can not only prevent the metal substrate 110 from oxygenizing by the seawater, but also can transport the electrons into the seawater for oxygen reduction action. After combining the carbon nanotubes 122 with the conductive polymer material 121, free paths of the electrons will be increased; therefore, the conductivity of the mixture coating layer 120 can be improved. Furthermore, the carbon nanotubes 122 can adsorb few metal-ions released from the cathode 100 so as to prevent the metal-ions from spreading into the ocean to lead environmental pollution. Moreover, the carbon nanotubes 122 can strengthen the structure strength of the conductive polymer material 121 to increase the life time of the cathode 100.
[0037] As shown is
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Comparative Comparative Example Example example 1-1 example 1-2 1-1 1-2 Carbon 0 0 0.1 1 nanotube wt % Example Example Example 1-3 1-4 1-5 Carbon 2 3 4 nanotube wt %
[0038] It can be known from
[0039]
[0040] In Step 210, a metal substrate 110 is provided.
[0041] In Step 220, a mixture coating liquid 130 is formed, which includes a conductive polymer material 121 and a plurality of carbon nanotubes 122.
[0042] In Step 230, the mixture coating liquid 130 is coated on the metal substrate 110 through a coating bar 140. The coating bar 140 is dipped into the mixture coating liquid 130 first, then is rolled on the metal substrate 110 to coat the mixture coating liquid 130.
[0043] In Step 240, a mixture coating layer 120 is formed on an outside surface of the metal substrate 110 via drying the mixture coating liquid 130 at a room temperature. Because the mixture coating liquid 130 is dried at the room temperature, the conductive polymer material 121 and the carbon nanotubes 122 can remain the essential properties thereof.
[0044]
[0045] In Step 221, a mixture liquid 150 is formed by mixing the conductive polymer material 121 with the carbon nanotubes 122 at a storage temperature of the conductive polymer material 121. In one embodiment, the conductive polymer material 121 is PEDOT:PSS, and the storage temperature is 4° C. to 8° C. The PEDOT:PSS is not easy to be pyrolyzed while operating in the seawater battery because of its high heat resistance. The conductivity of PEDOT:PSS is higher than other polymers, and PEDOT:PSS has good coating ability; therefor, the conductivity and lifetime of the cathode will be increased. The conductive polymer material 121 can be any other polymers with conductivity, and will not be limited thereto. The weight percentage of the carbon nanotubes 122 can be 0.1 to 35 when mixing the conductive polymer material 121 and the carbon nanotubes 122. Preferably, the weight percentage of the carbon nanotubes 122 can be 0.1 to 6, and the characteristic of the cathode 100 will become better.
[0046] In Step 222, the mixture coating liquid 130 is formed by shaking the mixture liquid 150 at the storage temperature via a supersonic vibration to mix the conductive polymer material 121 and the carbon nanotubes 122 uniformly. Through high-speed vibration, the mixture of the conductive polymer material 121 and the carbon nanotubes 122 can become uniform in a short time. The virtual implementations can be continually vibrating the mixture liquid 150 in a while via a supersonic vibrator, or be repetitively vibrating the mixture liquid 150 for a fixed-time period several times via a handheld supersonic homogenizer. However, the implementations and the devices for uniformly mixing the mixture liquid 150 are not limited thereto.
[0047]
[0048]
[0049] In this embodiment, the seawater battery 300 further includes a case 340, a seawater 320 and a wire 330. The seawater 320 is stored in the case 340, and at least one part of the anode 310 and the cathode 100 soak in the seawater 320. The wire 330 connects the cathode 100 to the anode 310.
[0050] In detail, the anode 310 is made of high active metal, and it is made of magnalium in the embodiment of
[0051]
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Comparative Example Example Example example 2-1 2-1 2-2 2-3 Carbon 0 0.1 1 2 nanotube wt % Type of — single-wall single-wall single-wall carbon nanotube Example Example Example Example 2-4 2-5 2-6 2-7 Carbon 3 4 0.1 1 nanotube wt % Type of single-wall single-wall multi-wall multi-wall carbon nanotube
[0052] Solution resistances (Rs) and polarization resistances (Rp) of EIS results for the comparative example 2-1 and the examples 2-1 to 2-7 are shown in Table 3. It can be known from
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Comparative Example Example Example example 2-1 2-1 2-2 2-3 Rs (ohm) 1.857 1.775 1.589 1.314 Rp (ohm) 69.82 73.63 62.64 44.3 Example Example Example Example 2-4 2-5 2-6 2-7 Rs (ohm) 1.406 1.436 1.765 1.585 Rp (ohm) 34.21 40.2 70.85 87.66
[0053] It can be known form
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TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Example 3-1 Example 3-2 Example 3-3 area(cm.sup.2) 9 25 49
[0055] As shown in
[0056]
[0057] The pumping device 430 can be disposed on a land or a ship, which can be a pump motor to draw the seawater 320 from the ocean. The seawater storing device 410 can also be disposed on the land or the ship and includes a receiving space 311, which can be a cask, or a tank, or other structure containing a receiving space. The aerating device 420 can be a water aerator which includes a plurality of blades 421 and a driving module 422, and the blades 421 are driven by the driving module 422 to agitate the seawater 320. But the structures of the pumping device 430, the seawater storing device 410 and the aerating device 420 are not limited thereto.
[0058] To be more specific, the seawater 320 pumped by the pumping device 430 will flow into the receiving space 411 of the seawater storing device 410. Through the agitation of the aerating device 420, the seawater 320 has more chance to contact with air so as to increase the amount of the dissolved oxygen. The seawater battery 300 is connected to the seawater storing device 410, the seawater 320 which has more amount of dissolved oxygen continually flows into the seawater battery 300 to cooperate with the anode 310 and the cathode 100 for power generation.
[0059] The increase of the amount of the dissolved oxygen in the seawater 320 can provide more oxygen for the seawater battery 300 and the ability of the power generation of the seawater 300 will be improved. Because the seawater 320 is flowable, the dissolves oxygen will not exhaust easily by the usage of the seawater battery 300.
[0060]
[0061] In
[0062] In the embodiment of
[0063]
[0064] In detail, the adjusting unit 450a includes a first frame 451a and a second frame 452a. The second frame 452a is corresponding to the first frame 451a and is abutted against the first frame 451a. The structure and size of the first frame 451a are the same as the structure and size of the second frame 452a. The first frame 451a includes a plurality of first ribs 453a spaced from each other, and the second frame 452a includes a plurality of second ribs 454a spaced from each other. The first frame 451a is movable between a first position and a second position with respect to the second frame 452a. When the first frame 451a is at the first position, as shown in
[0065] The flowing quantity of the seawater can be adjusted via the relative position between the first frame 451a and the second frame 452a. The reaction areas of the electrodes of the seawater battery 300 can be changed accordingly. The power of the seawater battery 300 can be changed as well as the area changed. Hence, the selectivity under usage can be increased duo to the disposition of the adjusting unit 450a.
[0066] Based on the embodiments and the examples described above, the present disclosure has the following advantages.
[0067] 1. The mixture coating layer coated on the metal substrate can prevent the metal substrate from corroded by the seawater. Because the mixture coating layer is a mixture containing the conductive polymer material and carbon nanotubes, the coating layer is conductive owing to the conductivity of the conductive polymer material. Furthermore, the combination of the carbon nanotubes can improve the conductivity and the mechanical strength to facilitate for increasing the life time and conductivity of the cathode of the seawater battery. It also has advantages of low pollution and environment protection.
[0068] 2. The total area of the cathode of the seawater battery will increase if the metal substrate is a mesh-shaped substrate. When contact with the seawater, a contacting area of the mesh-shaped substrate is larger than that of a board substrate. As a result, the seawater battery containing the cathode with mesh-shaped substrate can increase the ability of power generation.
[0069] 3. The oxidation resistance will increase if the metal substrate is made of nickel.
[0070] 4. The conductivity is high and the fabrication method of a cathode becomes easier if the conductive polymer material is PEDOT:PSS.
[0071] 5. Forming a mixture coating liquid in the fabrication process can assist the conductive polymer material and the carbon nanotubes of the mixture coating layer to be covered on the metal substrate. If the carbon nanotubes are coated on the metal substrate before the conductive polymer material is coated, the carbon nanotubes and the conductive polymer material are easier to peel and loose a function of protection because the bonding strength between the conductive polymer material and the carbon nanotubes is larger than that between the carbon nanotubes and the metal substrate. One the other hand, if the conductive polymer is coated on the metal substrate before the carbon nanotubes are coated, the conductive polymer is cured on the metal substrate and the bonding strength between the carbon nanotubes and the conductive polymer material becomes weak; therefore, the carbon nanotubes are hard to be coated on the metal substrate. Furthermore, the carbon nanotubes is exposed and cannot be protected by the conductive polymer material. As a result, the carbon nanotubes are easier to peel. Hence, the fabrication is simplified and the structure strength is increased if combining the conductive polymer material and the carbon nanotubes to form the mixture coating liquid before coating the metal substrate.
[0072] 6. In the fabrication of the cathode, the ways of mixing the conductive polymer material and the carbon nanotubes under the storage temperature of the conductive polymer material and drying the mixture coating layer under the room temperature can remain the essential properties of the materials and can reduce the possibility of metal phase transformation or can prevent the inner stress from occurring in the metal substrate due to high temperature.
[0073] 7. The characteristic of the cathode becomes better if the weight percentage of the carbon nanotubes of the mixture coating liquid is larger than or equal to 1 and smaller than or equal to 6.
[0074] 8. The seawater battery circulation system can increase the dissolved oxygen to improve the efficiency of the seawater battery.
[0075] Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
[0076] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.