Recent Developments of Semi-fuel Cells for Powering Underwater Sensors and Platforms

This paper studies two novel galvanic cells and postulates their use in underwater power applications. One couples aluminum to sodium peroxide (Al-Na2O2) and the other to a chlorinated halamine (Al-C3N3Cl3O3). Experimental results show that the chemistries are capable of providing good specific energies. The results from small cells showed a specific energy (SE) of 200 Wh/kg, (1) (similar to 300 Wh/kg, if the packaging is not considered) for the Al-halamine cell. The SE of Al-alkali peroxide was found to be approximately 230 Wh/kg (460 Wh/kg, considering only active materials). Interestingly, latest results indicate that it is possible to increase the current of a given cell by using high surface area electrodes. Results using high surface area, porous, foam-like materials are estimated and show promising results their use in semi-fuel cell schemes (SE on the order of 0.5 kWh/Kg).