Lithium anodes (13, 15, 17, and 20 wt% Li) were fabricated by mixing molten lithium and iron powder, which was used as a binder to hold the molten lithium, at about 500℃ (discharge temp.). In this study, the effect of applied pressure and lithium content on the discharge properties of a thermal battery’s single cell was investigated. A single cell using a Li anode with a lithium content of less than 15 wt% presented reliable performance without any abrupt voltage drop resulting from molten lithium leakage under an applied pressure of less than 6 kgf/㎠. Furthermore, it was confirmed that even when the solid electrolyte is thinner, the Li anode of the single cell normally discharges well without a deterioration in performance. The Li anode of the single cell presented a significantly improved open-circuit voltage of 2.06 V, compared to that of a Li-Si anode (1.93 V). The cut-off voltage and specific capacity were 1.83 V and 1,380 As g^-1 (Li anode), and 1.72 V and 1,364 As g^-1 (Li-Si anode). Additionally, the Li anode exhibited a stable and flat discharge curve until 1.83 V because of the absence of phase change phenomena of Li metal and a subsequent rapid voltage drop below 1.83 V due to the complete depletion of Li at the end state of discharge. On the other hand, the voltage of the Li-Si anode cell decreased in steps, 1.93 V → 1.72 V (Li₁₃Si₄ → Li₇Si₃) → 1.65 V (Li₇Si₃→ Li₁₂Si₇), according to the Li-Si phase changes during the discharge reaction. The energy density of the Li anode cell was 807.1 Wh l^-1, which was about 50% higher than that of the Li-Si cell (522.2 Wh l^-1).

Thermal batteries, reserve power source, is activated by melting of molten salt at the temperature range of 350~550℃. To immobile the molten state electrolyte when the thermal battery is activated, the binder must be added in electrolyte. Usually, molten salts include 30~40 wt% of MgO binder to ensure electrical insulation as well as safety. However, the conventional MgO binder tends to increase ionic conductive resistance and thus the inclusion of the binder increases the total impedance of the battery. This paper mainly focused on the study of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as an alternative binder for molten salt. The chemical stability between the molten salt and YSZ is measured by XRD and DSC. And the sufficient path for ionic conduction on molten salt could be confirmed by the enhanced wetting behavior and the enlarged pore size of YSZ. The electrochemical properties were analyzed using single cell tests so that it showed the outstanding performance than that using MgO binder.