Effects of Particle Size and Binder Phase Addition on Formability of Li-Si Alloy Powder for Thermal Battery Anode

The effects of particle size of Li-Si alloy and LiCl-KCl addition as a binder phase for raw material ofanode were investigated on the formability of the thermal battery anode. The formability was evaluated with respect tofilling density, tap density, compaction density, spring-back and compressive strength. With increasing particle size ofLi-Si alloy powder, densities increased while spring-back and compressive strength decreased. Since the small spring-back is beneficial to avoiding breakage of pressed compacts, larger particles might be more suitable for anode forming.The increasing amount of LiCl-KCl binder phase contributed to reducing spring-back, improving the formability ofanode powder too. The control of particle size also seems to be helpful to get double pressed pellets, which consistedof two layer of anode and electrolyte. Keywords: Thermal battery, Anode, Li-Si alloy, Powder compaction, Formability ······························································································································· ·································································································