2-ELECTRODE AND 3-ELECTRODE STUDIES OF CYCLING IN EXPERIMENTAL POLYMER ELECTROLYTE CELLS

Polymer electrolyte cells have been cycled at different rates and, in some instances, a constant potential has been maintained for an extended period between cycles. These experiments indicate that much of the capacity lost on cycling may be recovered, however, the slow decline in capacity with increasing cycle number appears to be unrecoverable. The latter loss of capacity is probably associated with degradation within the composite cathode. By inserting a third, reference, electrode into the cell the performance of the lithium anode and composite cathode have been measured. These measurements confirm that at low current densities the loss of capacity is associated principally with the cathode.