CA2074159C - Method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell - Google Patents

Method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell

Info

Publication number
CA2074159C
CA2074159C CA002074159A CA2074159A CA2074159C CA 2074159 C CA2074159 C CA 2074159C CA 002074159 A CA002074159 A CA 002074159A CA 2074159 A CA2074159 A CA 2074159A CA 2074159 C CA2074159 C CA 2074159C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
cell
sealed type
type nickel
hydrogen
manufacturing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002074159A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2074159A1 (en
Inventor
Jun Furukawa
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Furukawa Battery Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Furukawa Battery Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Furukawa Battery Co Ltd filed Critical Furukawa Battery Co Ltd
Priority to CA002074159A priority Critical patent/CA2074159C/en
Priority to DE69218197T priority patent/DE69218197T2/en
Priority to EP92113986A priority patent/EP0586718B1/en
Priority to US08/138,382 priority patent/US5334226A/en
Publication of CA2074159A1 publication Critical patent/CA2074159A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2074159C publication Critical patent/CA2074159C/en
Priority to HK98104182A priority patent/HK1005052A1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/44Methods for charging or discharging
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/34Gastight accumulators
    • H01M10/345Gastight metal hydride accumulators
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02EREDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/10Energy storage using batteries
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02PCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P70/00Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
    • Y02P70/50Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10TTECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T29/00Metal working
    • Y10T29/49Method of mechanical manufacture
    • Y10T29/49002Electrical device making
    • Y10T29/49108Electric battery cell making
    • Y10T29/4911Electric battery cell making including sealing

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Battery Electrode And Active Subsutance (AREA)
  • Secondary Cells (AREA)

Abstract

The invention reduces the number of cycles of charge-discharge operation required in the formation process involved in manufacturing of a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell having a large high-rate discharge capacity. In the formation process, a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell is subjected to at least one cycle of charge-discharge operation and thereafter kept at a temperature in the range of about 30°C to 60°C for a predetermined length of time.

Description

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell.

A method applicable to manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell employing a hydrogen-occlusion alloy electrode has much in common with that used to manufacture a nickel-cadmium cell, so that it is possible to divert the existing manufacturing facilities of the latter to manufacturing of the former and such diversion is viewed to be more advantageous in terms of equipment investment.

In one example of the sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell manufacturing method, well-known pasted type nickel electrode plate and pasted type hydrogen electrode plate are stacked in a laminate fashion with a separator placed therebetween, and rolled up together to be inserted into a cylindrical can; as an electrolyte, an aqueous solution of 7N KOH is then put into the can and a lid is then attached thereto by caulking for airtight sealing of the can; and this sealed type - cylindrical nickel-hydrogen cell so fabricated is subjected to a formation process in which it is charged and discharged for the formation treatment of both the nickel and the hydrogen electrode plates. In another example of said sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell, the pasted type nickel electrode and hydrogen electrode plates are stacked also in a laminate fashion with a separator placed therebetween and inserted flat in a square can; as an electrolyte, an aqueous solution of 7N KOH is put into the can and pasted a lid is then attached thereto by means of laser welding to hermetically seal the can; and this square sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell so fabricated is put in a formation process wherein it is charged and discharged for the formation treatment of both the nickel and the hydrogen electrode plates.

Either type of the above mentioned sealed type nickel-hydrogen cells comes to show its rated capacity at a low discharge rate such as 0.2C when treated with one to three cycles of charge-discharge operation in the above mentioned formation process. However, the discharge capacity it can provide at a lC or higher discharge rate is much smaller, so that the cell has to be charged and discharged repeatedly for ten cycles or more in the formation process in order to increase said capacity, this charge-discharge operation repeated for so many times making the formation process considerably more troublesome and time-consuming and resulting in higher production cost and other inconveniences.

The present invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell through use of the formation process of a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell, the cell is kept or retained at a temperature in the range of about 30~C to 60~C for a predetermined length of time after being subjected to at least one cycle of the - charge-discharge operation.

Fig. 1 is a graph showing relationships between the treatment temperatures and time lengths in the formation process and the discharge capacities obtained from the respective cells.

The principle of the present invention is yet to be clarified. It may be that although there occurs with one or more cycles of the charge-discharge operation applied to the cell a kind of pulverization whereby many fine cracks are formed in hydrogen-occlusion alloy particles contained in the hydrogen-occlusion electrode to result in a remarkable increase of the surface area of the alloy particles, the electrolyte nevertheless can not infiltrate sufficiently into all the alloy particles due to its comparatively high viscosity and as a result the surface area actually contributing to the electrochemical reaction remains small.
It is further assumed that when the cell in the above condition is kept at the above-mentioned high temperature for a predetermined length of time, the viscosity of the electrolyte becomes lower and the electrolyte infiltrates more thoroughly into the alloy particles to increase the effective surface area contributing to the electrochemical reaction and as a result there is obtained much increased discharge capacity at a lC or higher rate. In this case, the greatest high-rate discharge capacity is obtained when the cell is kept at a temperature in the range of 30~C to 60~C
for 48 hours to 6 hours at least.

In the following, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying single drawing. Commercially available La, Ni, and Al were weighed - and mixed to a predetermined composition ratio, and then heat-melted by means of an arc melting method. As an example, they were so mixed as to produce an alloy having composition of LaNi4.sAlO.s- said alloy being used as the hydrogen-occlusion alloy for the negative electrode. This alloy was pulverized into fine alloy powder of 250-mesh size or smaller. Added to this pulverized material were fluorocarbon resin powder at 5 wt.% and, as an electroconductive agent, carbonyl nickel powder at 20 wt.%.
After mixing them, an aqueous solution of a viscosity d I n.~ C4 ~ th~/ ~e//~/z~e 'lnt~n~ifl~r agent such asCCMC)~as added to the mixture to make a slurry thereof. This slurry was applied to a perforated sheet and dried thereon.

After that, it was pressed to a predetermined thickness and heat-treated for sintering of the resin particles, thereby manufacturing a pasted type hydrogen-occlusion electrode.

This alloy electrode was used as the negative electrode and a well-known pasted type nickel electrode as the positive electrode. They were stacked in a laminate fashion together with a nylon separator placed therebetween, rolled up together and put into a cylindrical can. As an electrolyte, an aqueous solution of 7N KOH was put into the can and a lid was attached thereto by caulking for airtight sealing of the can, thereby fabricating a cylindrical sealed type nickel electrode-controlled lOOmAh nickel-hydrogen cell.

This sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell fabricated in the above manner was subjected to at least one cycle of~charge-discharge operation and thereafter kept~at a~ té~perature inthe range of about 30~C to 60~C for a desired length of time in accordance with the formation process of this invention, - and finally fully charged to complete the formation thereof.
As a result, it has been confirmed that it is possible to obtain with one cycle of the charge-discharge operation a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell formed to have the rated high discharge capacity at a lC or higher discharge rate and capable of providing the high capacity as from the initial rapid discharge while doing away with the time-consuming and troublesome repetition of the charge-discharge operation for 10 times or more as required in the conventional formation process.

In order to find out the effect of the above-described treatment in the formation process according to the present invention, a plurality of the cylindrical sealed type nickel-hydrogen cells fabricated in the above mentioned manner were prepared for comparative testing to compare examples of the present invention with other comparative examples. More specifically, said plurality of the cells were first subjected to one cycle of charge-discharge operation in which they were charged with O.lC current at 20~C up to 150% of the rated capacity and then discharged at the same current rate to the cell voltage of l.OV. They were divided into different groups, put in thermostatic apparatus and kept therein at different temperatures for different lengths of time, respectively. After this treatment, they were invariably charged with 0.2C current at 20~C up to 150%
of the rated capacity to complete the formation of both the nickel and the hydrogen electrodes.

These test cells treated under the above mentioned different conditions for the formation as described in the foregoing were measured for their respective discharge capacities by discharging them with 3C current at 0~C to the cell voltage of l.OV. The results so obtained are as shown in Fig. 1. In the drawing, A, B, C, D and E refer to the characteristic curves for the discharge capacities of the cells obtained when the cells were kept consistently at 60~C, 40~C, 30~C, 25~C or 20~C respectively and measured at the time intervals of 10, 20, 30 40, 50 and 60 hours while under this formation treatment.

As is clear from the foregoing, the cell becomes capable of providing the largest discharge capacity when it has been kept at 30~C for 48 hours, at 40~C for 24 hours and at 60~C
for 6 hours, respectively. This largest discharge capacity corresponds to that obtained with ten or more cycles of the charge-discharge operation applied in the conventional 2t~ 9 formation process. This indicates that, according to the present invention, there can be obtained a cell or battery so formed with one cycle of the charge-discharge operation as to be capable of providing a large high-rate discharge capacity if kept thereafter at a high temperature in the range of 30~C
to 60~C in the formation process, said cell or battery suited for a rapid discharge use.

There have been observed some improvements in terms of the high-rate discharge capacity even when the cell was kept at lower temperatures such as 20~C and 25~C for the formation treatment, but none of them was effective enough to bring about the required high discharge capacity.

When the cell was kept at a temperature much higher than 60~C in said formation process, the result was unfavorable, including a thermal deterioration of the electrode plates and the separator. On the other hand, keeping the cell at a temperature lower than 30~C and close to 25~C for the formation treatment produced no effect.

The cell kept at a temperature ranging from about 30~C
to 60~C prior to initiation of the formation process produced no effect either. In this case, there was seen even an adverse effect.

Although the above described examples relate to the instance where only one cycle of the charge-discharge operation was applied for the formation treatment, said charge-discharge operation may be repeated for two or more times and such is considered even recommendable if such brings about more cracks in the alloy particles and ;~Q~ 9 consequently more infiltration thereinto of the electrolyte.
Needless to say, there is no use applying such repetitive charge-discharge operation unless it brings about a high discharge capacity greater than the largest obtainable with one cycle of said operation.

According to the present invention as described in the foregoing, a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell formed through the formation process wherein the cell is subjected to at least one cycle of the charge-discharge operation and B lo thereafter kept~at a ~émper~a~ure in the range of about 30~C
to 60~C for a predetermined length of time for the formation treatment provides a high discharge capacity even at a lC or higher discharge rate, thus assuring the high discharge capacity as from the initial rapid discharge operation, while eliminating such troublesome operation and disadvantage as ten or more cycles of the continuous charge-discharge operation required in the conventional formation process to obtain a cell or battery having a higher high-rate discharge capacity, and the resultant greater power consumption that pushes up the production cost.

Claims (3)

1. A method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell comprising: during the formation process maintaining said cell in its discharged state at a temperature in the range of 30°C
to 60°C for a predetermined length of time after treatment with at least one cycle of charge-discharge operation.
2. A method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cell is treated with more than one cycle of the charge-discharge operation and thereafter kept in its discharged state at a temperature in the range of 30°C to 60°C for up to 48 hours.
3. A method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell as claimed in claim 2, wherein said cell is kept in its discharged state at said temperature for at least 6 hours.
CA002074159A 1992-07-17 1992-07-17 Method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell Expired - Fee Related CA2074159C (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA002074159A CA2074159C (en) 1992-07-17 1992-07-17 Method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell
DE69218197T DE69218197T2 (en) 1992-07-17 1992-08-17 Process for the production of gas-tight nickel hydrogen cells
EP92113986A EP0586718B1 (en) 1992-07-17 1992-08-17 Method of manufacturing sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell
US08/138,382 US5334226A (en) 1992-07-17 1993-10-20 Method of manufacturing a sealed-type nickel-hydrogen cell
HK98104182A HK1005052A1 (en) 1992-07-17 1998-05-14 Method of manufacturing sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA002074159A CA2074159C (en) 1992-07-17 1992-07-17 Method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell
EP92113986A EP0586718B1 (en) 1992-07-17 1992-08-17 Method of manufacturing sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell
US08/138,382 US5334226A (en) 1992-07-17 1993-10-20 Method of manufacturing a sealed-type nickel-hydrogen cell
HK98104182A HK1005052A1 (en) 1992-07-17 1998-05-14 Method of manufacturing sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2074159A1 CA2074159A1 (en) 1994-01-18
CA2074159C true CA2074159C (en) 1997-11-11

Family

ID=27426932

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002074159A Expired - Fee Related CA2074159C (en) 1992-07-17 1992-07-17 Method of manufacturing a sealed type nickel-hydrogen cell

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US5334226A (en)
EP (1) EP0586718B1 (en)
CA (1) CA2074159C (en)
DE (1) DE69218197T2 (en)
HK (1) HK1005052A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0696825B1 (en) 1994-08-09 2004-02-04 Japan Storage Battery Company Limited Method for manufacturing nickel-metal-hydride battery
US5574353A (en) * 1995-03-31 1996-11-12 Motorola, Inc. Electrochemical charge storage device having constant voltage discharge
US5512160A (en) * 1995-08-10 1996-04-30 Hughes Aircraft Company Nickel-cadmium battery activation process
US6287724B2 (en) * 1997-11-03 2001-09-11 Eveready Battery Company, Inc. Nickel metal hydride cells designed for high rate/low temperature performance
US8056989B2 (en) * 2007-09-10 2011-11-15 Zielinski Randall S Child-proof safety latch
CN109818087B (en) * 2019-01-31 2022-04-22 浙江霖润新能源科技有限公司 Formation method of nickel-metal hydride battery

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4680241A (en) * 1983-11-29 1987-07-14 American Telephone And Telegraph Company, At&T Bell Laboratories Method for restoring the lost capacity of nickel batteries and batteries formed thereby
US4926106A (en) * 1986-07-22 1990-05-15 Tanis Peter G Aircraft battery charging device
DE3725629A1 (en) * 1987-08-03 1989-02-16 Varta Batterie GALVANIC ELEMENT
JP2512076B2 (en) * 1988-04-19 1996-07-03 松下電器産業株式会社 Manufacturing method of sealed nickel-metal hydride storage battery
JPH0644490B2 (en) * 1989-05-16 1994-06-08 三洋電機株式会社 Metal-hydrogen alkaline storage battery manufacturing method
JP2548431B2 (en) * 1990-07-02 1996-10-30 松下電器産業株式会社 Nickel-metal hydride battery conversion method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0586718B1 (en) 1997-03-12
DE69218197D1 (en) 1997-04-17
HK1005052A1 (en) 1998-12-18
EP0586718A1 (en) 1994-03-16
CA2074159A1 (en) 1994-01-18
US5334226A (en) 1994-08-02
DE69218197T2 (en) 1997-10-09

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