Performance of porous zinc electrode in alkaline secondary battery systems suffers mainly from shape change and dendrite growth. Polyaniline coating in direct contact with porous zinc electrode was found to restrict zincate movement away from the test electrode, which otherwise may lead to a decrease in electrode surface area ͑shape change of the electrode͒ on repeated cycling. Constant current charge/discharge cycles of the blank and polyaniline-coated zinc electrodes have been carried out to assess the performance of the polymer film. It was found that a fibrous network of polyaniline coating allows OH − ions and restricts the diffusion of zincate ions.
Thin films of polymer electrolytes comprising of PVA and KOH (A) with and without the addition of zinc salts, viz., zinc acetate (B) and zinc triflate (C) as mixed cations were prepared via. solution casting method. The thermal stability and ionic conductivity of PVA-KOH solid polymer electrolyte (A) were improved by the partial substitution of KOH with zinc salts. Among the two salts, zinc triflate was found to improve both the physical as well as electrochemical properties of the PVA-KOH films more significantly than zinc acetate. An attempt to optimize the ratio of various components of polymer electrolytes, viz., polymer: KOH: zinc salt was also made, based on the dimensional stability and ionic conductivity values. Finally, the select category polymer film containing PVA-KOHzinc triflate (C) in an optimum ratio of 40:35:25 was deployed in coin cell fabrication and subjected to chargedischarge studies with a view to demonstrate the possible electrochemical reversibility characteristics. Based on the encouraging results obtained from the cycling study, C type films [PVA-KOH-zinc triflate] qualify themselves as potential polymer electrolytes for use in rechargeable Zn/ AgO polymer batteries.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.