Binder-Free Cathode for Thermal Batteries Fabricated Using FeS2 Treated Metal Foam

In Yea Kim; Sung Pil Woo; Jaehwan Ko; Seung-Ho Kang; Young Soo Yoon; Hae-Won Cheong; Jae-Hong Lim

doi:10.3389/fchem.2019.00904

Binder-Free Cathode for Thermal Batteries Fabricated Using FeS₂ Treated Metal Foam

Front Chem. 2020 Jan 10:7:904. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00904. eCollection 2019.

Authors

In Yea Kim¹, Sung Pil Woo², Jaehwan Ko¹, Seung-Ho Kang³, Young Soo Yoon¹, Hae-Won Cheong³, Jae-Hong Lim¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Gachon University, Seongnam, South Korea.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Agency for Defense Development, Daejeon, South Korea.

Abstract

In this study, we fabricated a cathode with lower amounts of additive materials and higher amounts of active materials than those of a conventional cathode. A thermal battery was fabricated using FeS₂ treated foam as the cathode frame, and its feasibility was verified. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the effects of thermal sulfidation temperature (400 and 500°C) on the structure and surface morphology of the FeS₂ foam. The optimal temperature for the fabrication of the FeS_x treated foam was determined to be 500°C. The FeS₂ treated foam reduced the interfacial resistance and improved the mechanical strength of the cathode. The discharge capacity of the thermal battery using the FeS₂ treated foam was about 1.3 times higher than that of a thermal battery using pure Fe metal foam.

Keywords: FeS2 foam; cathode frame; metal foam; thermal battery; thermal sulfidation.