• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.45-49
• /
• 2010

The rechargeable Zn-air battery is considered as one of the potential candidates for the next generation secondary batteries due to its many advantages. However, its further applications and commercialization have been limited by the complexity of the reactions on air electrode which are oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) upon discharging and charging processes, respectively. In the present study, lanthanum was impregnated into a commercial Pt/C gas diffusion electrode, and it clearly verified significantly enhanced cycling stability and reversibility. The results presented in this study show the possibility of repeated charge/discharge processes for Zn-air batteries with a La-loaded air electrode, and they demonstrate the potential as a promising next generation secondary battery.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2005.07b
• /
• pp.1717-1718
• /
• 2005

Zn/Air 전지는 방전하는 동안에 최종 방전 cut-off 전압에 이르기까지 평탄한 voltage profile의 전기화학적 특성을 보여준다. Air cathode 전극의 경우, 전극의 porosity에 따라 특성변화에 큰 영향을 가지는 것으로 보이며 이의 비교연구를 위해 사용되어지는 활성탄의 종류를 달리함으로써 이러한 인자의 영향을 이해하고자 하였다. 이러한 인자연구는 discharge voltage, specific capacity, 및 energy 등의 연구결과를 바탕으로 고찰되어졌으며 결과적으로 공기 유로를 통한 산소의 원활한 공급 여부가 주요 원인인 것으로 여겨진다.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.381-386
• /
• 2019

Zn-air battery uses oxygen from the air, and hence, air holes in it are kept open for cell operation. Therefore, loss of water by evaporation through the holes is inevitable. When the water is depleted, the battery ceases to operate. There are two water consumption routes in Zn-air batteries, namely, active path (electrolysis) and passive path (evaporation and corrosion). Water loss by the active path (electrolysis) is much faster than that by the passive path during the early stage of the cycles. The mass change by the active path slows after 10 h. In contrast, the passive path is largely constant, becoming the main mass loss path after 10 h. The active path contributes to two-thirds of the electrolyte consumption in 24 h of cell operation in 4.0 M KOH. Although water is an important component for the cell, water vapor does not influence the cell operation unless the water is nearly depleted. However, high oxygen concentration favors the discharge reaction at the cathode.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.339-344
• /
• 2018

The gelling agent used in Zn-air cells plays a role in improving battery life. It prevents the evaporation of water and diffusion of $Zn^{2+}$ ions away from the current collector. Additional functionality was incorporated by replacing some of the gelling agents with new materials. Alcohols with moderate viscosity, namely maltose, sucrose, poly ethylene glycol 600, and 2-hydroxyethyl cellulose, were used to replace some gelling agents in this work. Among these alcohols, poly ethylene glycol 600 and 2-hydroxyethyl cellulose improved the cycle life of full cells. This improved cycle life was attributed to the inhibition of water electrolysis and the improved cycle life of the anode.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.166-171
• /
• 2001

In an aluminum-air unit cell used alkaline solution, Hydrogen evolution rates were investigated far the observation of the effects of alloy element, inhibitor and its concentration in electrolyte, KOH concentration, solution temperature, and current density loaded to cell. Hydrogen evolution rates were reduced up to $50\%$ by saturating the solution with ZnO, while ZnAc(Zinc Acetate) did not work as inhibitor. The inhibition effect of ZnO increased with increasing the KOH concentration and solution temperature. They were linearly increased with the KOH concentration and current density in first order and exponentially increased with the solution temperature.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.208-215
• /
• 2012

Gel polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared from blends of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA), by solution-cast technique. The PAA content in the blend varied from 30 to 80 wt%. With the gel polymer electrolyte membranes, Zn air batteries were fabricated. The gel polymer electrolyte membranes were characterized by means of stress-strain test, impedance test. The Zn air batteries were tested by current interrupt method and galvanostatic discharge method. The tensile strength and tensile modulus decreased with increasing PAA content in the gel polymer electrolyte membrane. On the other hand, the ionic conductivity increased with increasing PAA content. The effect of ionic conductivity trend of the gel polymer electrolyte membrane in the Zn air battery was confirmed through current interrupt method and galvanostatic discharge method experiments. The battery with higher PAA content gel polymer electrolyte membrane showed lower IR drop and higher discharge capacity.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.12-20
• /
• 2018

To solve low cycle efficiency of the zinc anode in Zn-air batteries by corrosion, this study examined the effects of Al as a cathodic protection additive to Zn. The Al-mixed Zn anodes were produced by mixing Zn and Al powder (1, 2, and 3 wt. %). To compare the effects of the Al additive, Si was selected under the same conditions. The morphology and elemental composition of the additives in the Zn were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry. The anti-corrosion effects of the Al and Si-mixed Zn anodes were examined by linear polarization. Cyclic voltammetry and charge-discharge tests were conducted to evaluate the electrochemical performance of the Al and Si-mixed Zn anodes. As a result, the Al-mixed Zn anodes showed highest corrosion resistance and cycling performance. Among these, the 2 wt.% Al-mixed Zn anodes exhibited best electrochemical performance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.16 no.12
• /
• pp.1150-1154
• /
• 2003

The voltage profile during discharge of the zinc air battery has very flat pattern until reach to end of discharge voltage. But, when zinc air battery is discharged by high current, the discharge voltage and energy becomes low. Therefore, we focused on effects of catalyst size to solve this problems by increasing active sites of oxygen reduction reaction. The size of catalyst was reduced from 27 to l${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and we examined average discharge voltage, capacity, energy, resistance and characteristics during GSM pulse discharge of zinc air battery with change of current density. And we also measured porosity of the cathode according to the ASTM. So we have got improvement of average discharge voltage and energy when catalyst was minimized and we have got optimum size of catalyst at 5${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.10-19
• /
• 2014

Porous flat sheet membranes for separators in Zn air batteries were prepared with polyethersulfone (PES) solutions by immersion precipitation phase inversion method. PES/polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)/N-methylpyrrolidone(NMP) mixtures were used for casting solutions and water was used for coagulant. With the separators, Zn air batteries were fabricated. The separators were characterized by means of stress-strain test, impedance test and SEM. The Zn air batteries were tested by current interrupt method (CIM) and galvanostatic discharge method. The tensile strength increased with increasing PES content in the casting solution while the ionic conductivity decreased. On the other hand, the ionic conductivity increased while the tensile strength decreased with increasing PVP content. The effect of ionic conductivity trend of the separator in the Zn air battery was confirmed through current interrupt method and galvanostatic discharge method experiments. The battery with the separator from casting solution with higher PES content showed higher IR drop and lower discharge capacity. And the battery with the separator from casting solution with higher PVP content showed lower IR drop and higher discharge capacity.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.401-409
• /
• 2021

The combination of different concentrations of ZnSO₄ in acidic solution as electrolyte in Zn-air batteries was investigated by Zn symmetrical cell test, half-cell and full cell tests. Using 1 M ZnSO₄ + 0.05 M H₂SO₄ as electrolyte and MnO₂ as air cathode catalyst with Zn foil anode, this combination had a satisfactory performance with balance of electrochemical activity and stability. Its electrochemical activity was matched to or even better than the PtRu catalyst in different current density. And its cycle life was improved (more than 100 cycles stable) by suppressing the growth of zinc dendrites on anode obviously. This electrolyte overcame the shortcomings of alkaline electrolyte that are easy to react with CO₂ in the air, severely growth of Zn dendrites caused by uneven plating/stripping of Zn.