A novel rechargeable zinc-air battery with molten salt electrolyte

作者：Liu, Shuzhi; Han, Wei; Cui, Baochen^*; Liu, Xianjun; Zhao, Fulin; Stuart, Jessica; Licht, Stuart^*

来源：Journal of Power Sources, 2017, 342: 435-441.

DOI：10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.080

• Rechargeable zinc-air battery
• Molten salt electrolyte
• Zinc deposition/dissolution
• Air electrode

Zinc-air batteries have been proposed for EV applications and large-scale electricity storage such as wind and solar power. Although zinc-air batteries are very promising, there are numerous technological barriers to overcome. We demonstrate for the first time, a new rechargeable zinc-air battery that utilizes a molten Li(0.87)Na(0.63)Ka(0.50)CO(3) eutectic electrolyte with added NaOH. Cyclic voltammetry reveals that a reversible deposition/dissolution of zinc occurs in the molten Li0.87Na0.63K0.50CO3 eutectic. At 550 degrees C, this zinc-air battery performs with a coulombic efficiency of 96.9% over 110 cycles, having an average charging potential of similar to 1.43 V and discharge potential of similar to 1.04 V. The zinc-air battery uses cost effective steel and nickel electrodes without the need for any precious metal catalysts. Moreover, the molten salt electrolyte offers advantages over aqueous electrolytes, avoiding the common aqueous alkaline electrolyte issues of hydrogen evolution, Zn dendrite formation, "drying out", and carbonate precipitation.

• 出版日期2017-2-28
• 单位东北石油大学