Study of a Thin Film Aluminum-Air Battery

Abstract

A thin film aluminum-air battery has been constructed using a commercial grade Al-6061 plate as anode electrode, an air-breathing carbon cloth carrying an electrocatalyst as cathode electrode, and a thin porous paper soaked with aqueous KOH as electrolyte. This type of battery demonstrates a promising behavior under ambient conditions of 20 °C temperature and around 40% humidity. It presents good electric characteristics when plain nanoparticulate carbon (carbon black) is used as electrocatalyst but it is highly improved when MnO2 particles are mixed with carbon black. Thus, the open-circuit voltage was 1.35 V, the short-circuit current density 50 mA cm−2, and the maximum power density 20 mW cm−2 in the absence of MnO2 and increased to 1.45 V, 60 mA cm−2, and 28 mW cm−2, respectively, in the presence of MnO2. The corresponding maximum energy yield during battery discharge was 4.9 mWh cm−2 in the absence of MnO2 and increased to 5.5 mWh cm−2 in the presence of MnO2. In the second case, battery discharge lasted longer under the same discharge conditions. The superiority of the MnO2-containing electrocatalyst is justified by electrode electrochemical characterization data demonstrating reduction reactions at higher potential and charge transfer with much smaller resistance.

Full-Self-Powered Humidity Sensor Based on Electrochemical Aluminum–Water Reaction

“…The anodic half-reaction has a theoretical potential of −2.31 V, while the cathodic half-reaction has a potential of +0.4 V (versus normal hydrogen electrode) [ 19 , 32 ]. Thus, the theoretical value for the aluminum–air battery is expected to be 2.71 V. In practice, the open-circuit voltage of these batteries is significantly lower, and its value is between 1.2 V and 1.6 V [ 31 ].…”

“…The sensor was designed as an interdigitated capacitor (IDC) made of a thin aluminum film. The proposed sensing principle of the sensor is based on the reaction between aluminum and oxygen dissolved in water on its surface, similar to aluminum–air batteries [ 16 , 19 , 20 ]. In this report, we investigate in detail the principle of operation of the aluminum IDC sensor, especially looking for evidence of an aluminum–water electrochemical interaction.…”

Photo‐assisted Rechargeable Metal Batteries for Energy Conversion and Storage

“…Al‐air battery has also demonstrated great potential owing to its outstanding advantages of high specific capacity of 2980 mAh g −1 , low cost, environmentally benign, and geological reserve abundance of Al. [ 100–103 ] These attractive merits make them suitable in fabricating photo‐assisted rechargeable metal batteries in future, after matching with solar cells.…”

Effects of Porous Structure on Oxygen Mass Transfer in Air Cathodes of Nonaqueous Metal–Air Batteries: A Mini-review

“…The air cathode is also an essential unit of an Al–air battery. Some Al–air batteries employed the electrodes fabricated by commercial carbons. , However, more studies of Al–air batteries and other metal–air batteries focused on carbon electrodes with unique functions. Those carbon materials have some unique functions in metal–air batteries because of their special structures and numerous defects.…”