Effect of structural parameters on the characteristics of metal-ceramic electrodes

A theoretical model is proposed that accounts for the influence exerted by the structural characteristics of a binary porous system, consisting of a sintered substrate and an active mass with its own micropores, on the output parameters of metal-ceramic electrodes. The most efficient factors that are capable of enhancing the electrode capacitance, reduce polarization, and improve performance at high current densities and low temperatures are shown to be the reduction of the average pore radius of the metal-ceramic substrates and the increase (to a certain limit) in the degree to which they are filled with the active material. It is shown that, in the case of the metal-ceramic nickel-oxide electrode, it is worthwhile to reduce the substrate pore radius approximately to 5 μM and increase the pore filling with the active mass to 85-90%. This may considerably improve characteristics of the nickel-cadmium, nickel-zinc, and nickel-metal hydride batteries