| 摘要 |
An electrochemical cell includes a fuel electrode configured to operate as an anode to oxidize a fuel when connected to a load. The cell also includes an oxidant electrode configured to operate as a cathode to reduce oxygen when connected to the load. The fuel electrode comprises a plurality of scaffolded electrode bodies. The present invention relates to an electrochemical cell system and method of resetting the electrochemical cell by applying a charge (i.e. voltage or current) to the cell to drive oxidation of the fuel, wherein the fuel electrode operates as an anode, and the second cell operates as a cathode, removing uneven distributions of fuel that may cause premature shorting of the electrode bodies to improve capacity, energy stored, and cell efficiency. |
| 主权项 |
1. A rechargeable electrochemical cell system for generating electrical current using a fuel and an oxidant, the cell system comprising:
a plurality of modules, each comprising N electrochemical cells each comprising a fuel electrode, an oxidant electrode, a charging electrode, and an ionically conductive medium communicating the electrodes, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to two; and a plurality of switches switchable to:
(1) a discharge mode coupling the oxidant electrode of each cell 1 to N−1 to the fuel electrode of the subsequent cell to couple the cells in a discharging series, such that when the fuel electrode of cell 1 and the oxidant electrode of cell N are coupled to a load, oxidation of fuel at the fuel electrodes and reduction of an oxidant at the oxidant electrodes creates a potential difference within each cell to thus create a cumulative potential difference anodic at the fuel electrode of cell 1 and cathodic at the oxidant electrode of cell N for delivering a current to the load, and(2) a charge mode coupling the charging electrode of each cell 1 to N−1 to the fuel electrode of the subsequent cell to couple the cells in a charging series, such that when the fuel electrode of cell 1 and the charging electrode of cell N are coupled to a power source to receive a charging potential difference cathodic at the fuel electrode of cell 1 and anodic at the charging electrode of cell N, an incremental potential difference is created within each cell to reduce a reducible fuel species at the fuel electrode and oxidize an oxidizable oxidant species at the charging electrode, wherein the plurality of switches are switchable to a bypass mode for a cell (X) of the N electrochemical cells by coupling the charging electrode, in the charge mode, or the oxidant electrode, in the discharge mode, of a previous cell (X−1) to the fuel electrode of a subsequent cell (X+1); wherein:
the plurality of switches include a triple throw single pole switch for each cell;a static contact for the triple throw single pole switch for each of cells 1 to N−1 is connected to the fuel electrode of the subsequent cell (X+1);a first selective contact for the triple throw single pole switch for each of cells 2 to N is connected to at least the static contact of the previous cell (X−1);a second selective contact for the triple throw single pole switch for each of cells 1 to N is connected to the charging electrode of the associated cell (X); anda third selective contact for the triple throw single pole switch for each of cells 1 to N is connected to the oxidant electrode of the associated cell (X); and wherein each of the plurality of modules is connected by a charge/discharge control system configured to selectively electrically isolate one or more of the N electrochemical cells within each module through control of the plurality of switches, and selectively electrically isolate each module from one or more other modules of the plurality of modules. |
