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Comparison of electrochemical performance for zinc anode via various electrolytes and conducting agents in Zn-air secondary batteries

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Abstract

Zn-air batteries have many advantages as energy devices but they show a poor charge-discharge cycle performance. Therefore, this study examined the effects of various types of electrolytes and conducting agents and changed the additive contents to optimize the electrochemical performance of Zn-air secondary batteries. Electrolytes, such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions, and conducting agents, such as super-p, denka black, acetylene black, and ketjen black, were used to increase the electric conductivity. The electrochemical performance of the zinc anode was evaluated from charge-discharge capacities and cycle efficiency. When the capacity was compared according to each electrolyte from one to ten cycles, in contrast, the zinc anode in 6 M KOH showed a higher discharge capacity in the first cycle. Therefore, zinc anode was composed in the 6-M KOH electrolyte and conducting agents were added. The zinc anode included conducting agents with a higher cycle capacity than those without conducting agents, and super-p had a higher first discharge capacity than the others. Therefore, the zinc anode with super-p of 4% shows the highest performance using 6 M KOH in Zn-air secondary batteries.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2012–M1A2A2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 680-749, South Korea

    Seong-Hun Lee, Da-Jeong Park, Won-Geun Yang & Kwang-Sun Ryu

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  1. Seong-Hun Lee
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  2. Da-Jeong Park
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  3. Won-Geun Yang
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  4. Kwang-Sun Ryu
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Correspondence to Kwang-Sun Ryu.

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Lee, SH., Park, DJ., Yang, WG. et al. Comparison of electrochemical performance for zinc anode via various electrolytes and conducting agents in Zn-air secondary batteries. Ionics 23, 1801–1809 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-017-2005-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-017-2005-1

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