Materials balance in primary batteries. I. Lithium inorganic cells at low discharge rates

A study has been made of the design characteristics and optimization procedures leading to an improvement in the maximum cell capacity obtainable with standard size lithium cells at low discharge rates. General relations have been derived between the cell capacity and the porosity of carbon cathode structures at various stages of cell discharge, based on a cell reaction mechanism proposed earlier. A total materials balance relation has been established for the components involved in the cell reaction in cylindrical cells made for a long range application. Design calculations have been carried out for a typical standard size cylindrical cell. A satisfactory agreement has been achieved between the predicted and the realized performance of cells built according to these calculations.