Optimisation of anode characteristics of calcium thionyl chloride cells

In the field of high performance primary battery systems lithium anoded cells have been shown to have an excellent performance and extremely good shelf life. The major drawback with the lithium technology is one of safety, whereby abuse conditions (such as charging of the cell) lead to an unstable system with the very real possibility of a cell explosion. For a commercially available cell consideration of safety issues would preclude the marketing of a high performance lithium cell for general use, rather, it will be reserved for specialist e.g. Military use where the personnel having contact with the power source can be trained in its safe operation. The work described in this thesis is concerned with the development of a high performance battery system utilising calcium as the anode material. Calcium has received attention as an anode material for a high performance battery system because it removes many of the safety problems associated with lithium. The major disadvantages of calcium have been addressed namely the shelf life and discharge performance. The electrochemical techniques of cyclic voltammetry and a.c. impedance have been used in conjunction with physical methods such as scanning electron microscopy to define the mode of operation of these cells.