No abstract

Zinc-air batteries are a promising technology for large-scale electricity storage. However, their practical deployment has been hindered by some issues related to corrosion and passivation of the zinc anode in an alkaline electrolyte. In this work, anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and nonionic surfactant Pluronic F-127 (P127) are examined their applicability to enhance the battery performances. Pristine zinc granules in 7 M KOH, pristine zinc granules in 0–8 mM SDS/7 M KOH, pristine zinc granules in 0–1000 ppm P127/7 M KOH, and SDS coated zinc granules in 7 M KOH were examined. Cyclic voltammograms, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed that using 0.2 mM SDS or 100 ppm P127 effectively suppressed the anode corrosion and passivation. Nevertheless, direct coating SDS on the zinc anode showed adverse effects because the thick layer of SDS coating acted as a passivating film and blocked the removal of the anode oxidation product from the zinc surface. Furthermore, the performances of the zinc-air flow batteries were studied. Galvanostatic discharge results indicated that the improvement of discharge capacity and energy density could be sought by the introduction of the surfactants to the KOH electrolyte. The enhancement of specific discharge capacity for 30% and 24% was observed in the electrolyte containing 100 ppm P127 and 0.2 mM SDS, respectively.

Sorption enhanced steam methane reforming (SESMR) is a promising concept for hydrogen production. The in situ removal of CO 2 shifts the reaction equilibrium toward increased H 2 production as well as H 2 concentration. Generally, most of the previous studies operated the SESMR system using separate materials of a CO 2 adsorbent and a reforming catalyst. In this study, a combined catalyst-adsorbent material (considered as multifunctional catalyst), whose functions are not only to catalyze the reaction but also to adsorb CO 2 simultaneously, was developed and utilized for the SESMR process. CaO and hydrotalcite (MK30-K), wellknown adsorbents for CO 2 capture, were selected as supports to replace a conventional Al 2 O 3 support for Ni catalyst. The material was prepared in the form of powder by incipient wetness technique, and the tests were carried out in the fixed bed reactor system. Experimental results indicated that the activity of Ni/CaO was less than Ni/Al 2 O 3 but high hydrogen concentration in the product stream can be achieved. The effect of Ni loading was investigated, and it was found that at atmospheric pressure, steam to methane ratio of 3 and T = 873 K, 12.5 wt % Ni/CaO was the appropriate ratio, offering high hydrogen concentration (80%). The study also suggested that the use of the multifunctional catalyst eliminates the use of Al 2 O 3 and thus requires a reactor with a smaller size.

No abstract

No abstract

This work aims at analyzing an integrated system of a zinc-air flow battery with a zinc electrolyzer for energy storage application. For efficient utilization of inherently intermittent renewable energy sources, safe and cost-effective energy storage systems are required. A zinc-air flow battery integrated with a zinc electrolyzer shows great promise as an electricity storage system due to its high specific energy density at low cost. A mathematical model of the system was developed. The model was implemented in MATLAB and validated against experimental results. The validation of the model was verified by the agreement between the simulation and experimental polarization characteristic. The behavior and performance of the system were then examined as a function of different operating parameters: the flow rate of the electrolyte, the initial concentration of potassium hydroxide (KOH) and the initial concentration of zincate ion. These parameters significantly affected the performance of the system. The influence of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the performance of the system was investigated and discussed as it significantly affected the coulombic efficiencies of both the zinc-air flow battery and the zinc electrolyzer. Optimal KOH concentration was found to be about 6-7 M. Whilst increased KOH concentration enhanced the discharge energy of the battery, it also increased HER of both the battery and the electrolyzer. However, higher initial concentration of zincate ion reduced HER and improved the coulombic efficiency of the system. Besides, a higher flow rate of electrolyte enhanced the performance of the system especially at a high charge/discharge current by maintaining the concentration of active species in the cell. Nevertheless, the battery suffered from a higher rate of HER at a high flow rate. It was noted that the model-based analysis provided better insight into the behavioral characteristics of the system leading to an improved design and operation of the integrated system of zinc-air flow battery with the zinc electrolyzer.

Self‐discharge caused by hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) coinciding with corrosion of the zinc anode is a major drawback of printed zinc‐air batteries. Thus, this work aims at suppressing self‐discharge of flexible printed zinc‐air batteries by coating thin layer of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) onto the surface of zinc particles. The Al2O3 coating layer was directly synthesized onto the zinc particles by a low‐cost and facile sol–gel method. The Al2O3 coating effectively mitigated HER of the zinc particles, and delayed the corrosion of the zinc anode. Further, the effects of the thickness of Al2O3 layer on corrosion behavior of the zinc anode in 9 M potassium hydroxide as well as performance of the batteries were investigated. With a proper thickness of Al2O3 coating, corrosion of the battery was considerably suppressed without sacrificing the battery performance. (a) Photographic image of the fabricated battery, (b) transmission electron microscopic image of zinc particle coated with Al2O3.

No abstract