Expert: Mike Fulcher - 8/27/2007

Question
I'm going to try my hand at building my own Sodium/Nickel Thermal Battery pack. I've done my homework and believe I could even produce the final electrolyte from it's base components.  But this would involve many variables that I don't have first-hand experience with and would probably not give the conductance numbers I need.

Is there any source for Na-����-alumina available to individuals or small companies. I want it in powder or paste/slurry form so I can dictate it's final shape and sinter it myself. I'll take what I can get. I've posted this question to many forums over the last 2 weeks, and no one has even tried to answer. I've contacted many technical ceramic suppliers, and searched the net exhaustively. What am I doing wrong?

I was looking for a place that I could pay for an answer and I'm prepared to pay a modest sum.

Answer
Steve

I wish I could help here but unfortunately I don't have any experience with thermal batteries.  My guess is that the Sodium beta-alumina is probably synthesized by the battery manufacturer from its base components as a way to reduce the price and have a firm control over quality.  It doesn't surprise me that the information you're looking for is hard to come by, given that these types of batteries are used frequently in military applications.  Good luck.