Claims
- 1. An electrochemical cell having an anode of a Group IA metal which is electrochemically oxidized to form metal ions in the cell upon discharge to generate electron flow in an external electrical circuit connected to the cell, a cathode of electronically conductive material, and an ionically conductive electrolyte solution operatively associated with the anode and the cathode, the cathode comprising a metal oxide matrix material comprising vanadium oxide and a mixture of a copper-containing constituent and a silver-containing constituent, the metal oxide matrix material having a stoichiometric formulation consisting of either Cu.sub.0.16 Ag.sub.0.67 V.sub.2 O.sub.z with z being about 5.5 or Cu.sub.0.5 Ag.sub.0.5 V.sub.2 O.sub.z with z being about 5.75.
- 2. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the silver-containing constituent is selected from the group consisting of silver, silver nitrate, silver nitrite, silver carbonate, and salts of silver oxyanions.
- 3. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein one component of the metal oxide matrix material comprises V.sub.2 O.sub.z with 0<z.ltoreq.5.
- 4. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the silver-containing constituent comprises Ag.sub.2 O.sub.z with z ranging from about 0 to 1.
- 5. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the copper-containing constituent comprises CuO.sub.z with z ranging from about 0 to 1.
- 6. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide matrix material comprises a mixture of V.sub.2 O.sub.z with 0<z.ltoreq.5, Ag.sub.2 O.sub.z with z ranging from between about 0 to 1 and CuO.sub.z with z ranging from between about 0 to 1, prepared by the thermal treatment of vanadium pentoxide, silver nitrate and copper nitrate, respectively.
- 7. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide matrix material is formed as a preparation product selected from one of the group consisting of a thermal treatment, sol-gel formation, chemical vapor deposition and hydrothermal synthesis of vanadium oxide and the mixture of the copper-containing constituent and the silver-containing constituent.
- 8. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the cathode further comprises a binder material.
- 9. The electrochemical cell of claim 8 wherein the binder material is a fluoro-resin powder.
- 10. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the cathode further comprises a conductive additive material.
- 11. The electrochemical cell of claim 10 wherein the conductive additive material is selected from the group consisting of carbon, graphite and a combination thereof.
- 12. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the electrolyte solution comprises a Group IA metal salt dissolved in a nonaqueous solvent.
- 13. The electrochemical cell of claim 12 wherein the nonaqueous solvent comprises an inorganic solvent.
- 14. The electrochemical cell of claim 12 wherein the nonaqueous solvent comprises an organic solvent.
- 15. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide matrix material having the stoichiometric formulation Cu.sub.0.16 Ag.sub.0.67 V.sub.2 O.sub.5.5 is characterized by an exothermic transition in differential scanning calorimity data at 523.degree. C., 537.degree. C. and 592.degree. C.
- 16. The electrochemical cell of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide matrix material having the stoichiometric formulation Cu.sub.0.5 Ag.sub.0.5 V.sub.2 O.sub.5.75 is characterized by an exothermic transition in differential scanning calorimity data at 542.degree. C.
- 17. A cathode for an electrochemical cell comprising a metal oxide matrix material as a reaction product formed by either a thermal decomposition reaction or a thermal addition reaction of a mixture of vanadium oxide and a copper-containing constituent and a silver-containing constituent, the metal oxide matrix material having a stoichiometric formulation consisting of either Cu.sub.0.16 Ag.sub.0.67 .sub.V.sub.2 O.sub.z with z being about 5.5 or Cu.sub.0.5 Ag.sub.0.5 V.sub.2 O.sub.z with z being about 5.75.
- 18. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the silver-containing constituent is included in a compound selected from the group consisting of silver, silver nitrate, silver nitrite, silver carbonate, and ammonium salts of silver oxyanions.
- 19. The cathode of claim 17 wherein one component of the metal oxide matrix material comprises V.sub.2 O.sub.z with 0<z.ltoreq.5.
- 20. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the silver-containing compound comprises Ag.sub.2 O.sub.z with z ranging from about 0 to 1.
- 21. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the copper-containing compound comprises CuO.sub.z with z ranging from between about 0 to 1.
- 22. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the metal oxide matrix material comprises a mixture of V.sub.2 O.sub.z with 0<z.ltoreq.5, Ag.sub.2 O.sub.z with z ranging from between about 0 to 1 and CuO.sub.z z ranging from between about 0 to 1, prepared by the thermal treatment of vanadium pentoxide, silver nitrate and copper nitrate, respectively.
- 23. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the metal oxide matrix material is formed as a reaction product of a thermal treatment of decomposable compounds comprising the vanadium oxide and the mixture of the copper-containing constituent and the silver-containing constituent.
- 24. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the metal oxide matrix material is formed by either a thermal decomposition reaction or a thermal addition reaction of the vanadium oxide and the mixture of the copper-containing constituent and the silver-containing constituent.
- 25. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the metal oxide matrix material is formed as a preparation product selected from one of the group consisting of a thermal treatment, sol-gel formation, chemical vapor deposition and hydrothermal synthesis of vanadium oxide and the mixture of the copper-containing constituent and the silver-containing constituent.
- 26. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the cathode further comprises a binder material.
- 27. The cathode of claim 26 wherein the binder material is a fluoro-resin power.
- 28. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the cathode further comprises a conductive additive material.
- 29. The cathode of claim 28 wherein the conductive additive material is selected from the group consisting of carbon, graphite and a combination thereof.
- 30. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the metal oxide matrix material having the stoichiometric formulation Cu.sub.0.16 Ag.sub.0.67 V.sub.2 O.sub.5.5 is characterized by an exothermic transition in differential scanning calorimity data at 523.degree. C., 537.degree. C. and 592.degree. C.
- 31. The cathode of claim 17 wherein the metal oxide matrix material having the stoichiometric formulation Cu.sub.0.5 Ag.sub.0.5 V.sub.2 O.sub.5.75 is characterized by an exothermic transition in differential scanning calorimity data at 542.degree. C.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a Continuation-in-Part Application of Ser. No. 08/032,659, filed Mar. 17, 1993, now abandoned.
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Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
32659 |
Mar 1993 |
|