Materials balance in primary batteries. IV. Lithium batteries with organic electrolytes

Part IV of the study of the materials balance in primary batteries concerns the application of the optimization procedure, developed for lithium inorganic batteries, to systems using organic electrolytes. The stoichiometric characteristics of discharge reactions (k₁ andk₃) were defined for six different lithium battery systems and the cathode discharge characteristics (k₂) were determined on the basis of the experimental data reported by various authors. These characteristics were then applied in the optimization procedure developed earlier to predict the maximum cell capacity obtainable at low discharge rates. The values predicted were compared with those reported by various authors; this suggests the magnitude of improvement possible with each of the systems if the present optimization procedure were applied. A good agreement was found between the predicted and the previously reported values for some systems (e.g. Li/CuO), while some other systems showed room for improvement. The optimization procedure was found inapplicable without modifications to one of the systems studied (Li/SO₂) due to the limitations in the volume available for the electrolyte.