JPH0817480A - Cylindrical air battery - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To prevent a decrease in battery performance by making it possible to supply air evenly without running out of air. A power generating element in which a positive electrode catalyst layer 3 and an air diffusion layer 1 are arranged outside a negative electrode active material 5 located in a central portion via a separator 4 is housed in a positive electrode can 6, and an opening of the positive electrode can 6 is accommodated. A unit cell is formed by sealing the same through a sealing ring 9, and an air intake hole 12 is formed in the peripheral portion of the positive electrode terminal portion 11 of the unit cell, and an air passage 10 is formed in the sealing ring 9 as the air diffusion layer 1. Provide in communication.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cylindrical air battery using oxygen in air as an active material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional air battery, in particular, a cylindrical air battery, a power generating element having a negative electrode active material in a central portion and a positive electrode catalyst layer disposed on the outside of the negative electrode active material is housed in a positive electrode can. In order to have a function of ionizing oxygen in the air in the positive electrode catalyst layer, an air diffusion layer that uniformly diffuses air into the positive electrode catalyst layer is located between the positive electrode catalyst layer and the positive electrode can, and this air diffusion layer is Air holes for taking in air were provided on the opposite side surfaces of the positive electrode can (see, for example, JP-A-59-99683, JP-A-56-92365, and JP-A-59-113971).

Some button-type air batteries have an air hole at the bottom of a positive electrode can containing a positive electrode catalyst layer (see, for example, Battery Manual, page 153).

[0004]

In the conventional cylindrical air battery, the air hole for taking in the air is located on the side surface of the positive electrode can.
That is, since it is provided on the side surface of the battery, this air hole is closed by the battery outer label, or
When the battery is used, there is a fear that it may be blocked due to contact between the side surface of the battery and a battery case provided in a device using the battery as a power source. When the air holes are closed, the amount of oxygen in the air, which is the active material, supplied to the air diffusion layer and the positive electrode catalyst layer is reduced or is not supplied at all, and the battery performance is lowered. I had a problem. Further, in the conventional cylindrical air battery and button air battery, the air taken in from the air holes flows in the thickness direction of the air diffusion layer, so the contact distance between the air and the air diffusion layer is short, and There was also a problem that it was difficult to carry out uniformly and sufficiently.

According to the present invention, the air intake portion is closed to prevent the air supply from being interrupted and the air shortage is prevented, and the contact distance between the air and the air diffusion layer is lengthened to make the air uniform and uniform. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cylindrical air battery that can be satisfactorily supplied and has no deterioration in battery performance.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in a cylindrical air battery of the present invention, a positive electrode catalyst layer and an air diffusion layer are provided outside a negative electrode active material located in a central part through a separator. The power generation element having the above is placed in a positive electrode can, the opening of the positive electrode can is sealed to form a unit cell, and at least one of a top surface portion or a bottom surface portion of the unit cell is
An air intake section communicating with the air diffusion layer is provided.

It is also possible to provide an air intake portion on at least one of the bottom portion of the positive electrode can or the opening end sealing portion of the positive electrode can, or to provide a plurality of air intake portions.

Further, it is effective to provide a through hole for taking in air in the positive electrode terminal portion formed at the bottom of the positive electrode can or a groove for taking in air in the sealing ring provided at the opening end sealing portion of the positive electrode can. .

[0009]

In the cylindrical air battery configured as described above, the air intake portion communicating with the air diffusion layer is provided on the top surface and the bottom surface. Therefore, the air intake portion is an outer label or a battery case of equipment. Will not be blocked by and the shortage of air supply to the air diffusion layer will be resolved,
The supply of oxygen to the positive electrode catalyst layer becomes smooth, and the taken-in air permeates the inside of the air diffusion layer in the lengthwise direction, so that the distance in which the air contacts the air diffusion layer becomes longer, Is evenly distributed, and a sufficient amount can be smoothly supplied to prevent deterioration of battery performance.

Further, if an air intake portion is provided on at least one of the peripheral portion of the positive electrode terminal portion and the vicinity of the negative electrode terminal portion, this terminal portion comes into contact with the terminal of the device in order to supply current, but the other peripheral portions. Since the part does not come in contact with other things, the intake of air becomes more stable,
Moreover, the taken-in air flows in the air diffusion layer while making sufficient contact in its length direction and is diffused, so that the air is more evenly diffused, and if a plurality of air intake portions are provided, the air intake or The air circulation becomes smooth, and the supply of oxygen to the positive electrode catalyst layer becomes more stable.

[0011]

EXAMPLE A cylindrical alkaline-air zinc battery of an example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, which shows a semi-cut side view of a cylindrical alkaline-air zinc battery, 1 is an air diffusion layer that uniformly diffuses the taken-in air, and is composed of a diffusion paper made of cellulose. 2 is a porous water-repellent film that has gas permeability but blocks liquid permeation, and 3 is a positive electrode catalyst layer that ionizes oxygen in the air that is uniformly diffused by the air diffusion layer 1,
4 is a separator, 5 is a separator 4 and is an air catalyst layer 3
A negative electrode active material composed of a mixture of potassium hydroxide and zinc powder, 6 denotes an air diffusion layer 1, a positive electrode catalyst layer 3,
A positive electrode can containing a power generating element such as the negative electrode active material 5, 7 is a sealing body for sealing the opening of the positive electrode can 6, 8 is a negative electrode current collector embedded in the negative electrode active material 5, and 9 is air on the outer surface. A metal-made cylindrical sealing ring (see FIG. 2) having a groove-shaped thin air passage 10 serving as a groove for taking in, one end of which is
The open ends of the air diffusion layer 1 and the water-repellent film 2 are sandwiched between the peripheral edges of the sealing body 7, and the other end is bent and tightened to the peripheral edge of the sealing body 7 by bending and tightening the open end of the positive electrode can 6. Positive electrode can 6
The opening is sealed liquid-tightly. Reference numeral 11 is a positive electrode terminal portion formed at the bottom of the positive electrode can 6, and 12 is an air intake hole formed in the peripheral portion of the positive electrode terminal portion 11 and is a through hole that functions as an air intake portion. Reference numeral 13 denotes a negative electrode terminal portion provided at the end of the negative electrode current collector 8.

The air intake hole 12 is formed in the air diffusion layer 1
However, the air taken in through the air intake holes 12 flows uniformly in the air diffusion layer 1 while flowing in the length direction thereof. And is supplied to the positive electrode catalyst layer 3.
In addition, the air passage 10 formed on the outer surface of the sealing ring 9
Has one end opened to the sealing portion on the opening end side of the positive electrode can 6,
Since the other end communicates with the open end of the air diffusion layer 1, the air taken in from the air passage 10 is
It is uniformly diffused while flowing in the inside thereof and supplied to the positive electrode catalyst layer 3. Further, a circulation flow path is formed in which the air taken in from either the air intake hole 12 or the air passage 10 flows inside the air diffusion layer 1 and flows out from the other air passage 10 or the air intake hole 12. Therefore, the supply of air to the positive electrode catalyst layer 3 becomes smooth.

With the above structure, the intake of air is ensured without being obstructed, and the air and the air diffusion layer are sufficiently contacted to uniformly diffuse the air to the positive electrode catalyst layer. As a result, deterioration of battery performance due to lack of positive electrode active material is eliminated.

Although the structure having both the air passage 10 and the air intake hole 12 has been described above, the structure having either one of the air passages 10 and the air intake holes 12 is sufficiently effective, and the side surface of the positive electrode can is different from the conventional one. In addition to an air battery having a structure in which air holes are formed, an air passage 10 or an air intake hole 12 is provided.
It has been confirmed that the configuration including at least one of the above is effective.

[0016]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention is configured as described above, the intake of air supplying oxygen as the positive electrode active material is stable without being obstructed by the outer label or the battery case of the device. In addition, since the contact between air and the air diffusion layer is improved and the air is uniformly diffused in the positive electrode catalyst layer, it is possible to provide a cylindrical air battery in which the battery performance is not deteriorated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a half-cut sectional view of a cylindrical alkaline-air zinc battery in an example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sealing ring in the cylindrical alkaline-air zinc battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air diffusion layer 3 Positive electrode catalyst layer 4 Separator 5 Negative electrode active material 6 Positive electrode can 9 Sealing ring 10 Air passage 11 Positive electrode terminal portion 12 Air intake hole 13 Negative electrode terminal portion

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Asaoka 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A power generation element having a positive electrode catalyst layer and an air diffusion layer disposed outside a negative electrode active material located in the center through a separator is housed in a positive electrode can, and the opening of the positive electrode can is sealed to form the positive electrode can. A cylindrical air battery in which an air intake portion communicating with the air diffusion layer is provided on at least one of the top surface and the bottom surface of the unit cell. 2. The cylindrical air battery according to claim 1, wherein an air intake portion is provided on at least one of the bottom portion of the positive electrode can and the opening end sealing portion of the positive electrode can. 3. The cylindrical air battery according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of air intake portions. 4. The cylindrical air battery according to claim 1, wherein the positive electrode terminal portion formed on the bottom of the positive electrode can is provided with a through hole for taking in air. 5. The cylindrical air battery according to claim 1, wherein a groove for taking in air is provided in a sealing ring provided in the opening end sealing portion of the positive electrode can.