Durable rechargeable zinc-air batteries with neutral electrolyte and manganese oxide catalyst

• Published in: Journal of power sources Vol. 332; pp. 330 - 336
• Main Authors: Sumboja, Afriyanti, Ge, Xiaoming, Zheng, Guangyuan, Goh, F.W. Thomas, Hor, T.S. Andy, Zong, Yun, Liu, Zhaolin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15-11-2016
• Subjects: Electrocatalyst; Manganese oxide; Neutral electrolyte; Rechargeable metal-air batteries; Zn-air batteries; Neutral electrolyte; Electrocatalyst; Zn-air batteries; Manganese oxide; Rechargeable metal-air batteries
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.09.142

Neutral chloride-based electrolyte and directly grown manganese oxide on carbon paper are used as the electrolyte and air cathode respectively for rechargeable Zn-air batteries. Oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions on manganese oxide show dependence of activities on the pH of the electrolyte. Zn-air batteries with chloride-based electrolyte and manganese oxide catalyst exhibit satisfactory voltage profile (discharge and charge voltage of 1 and 2 V at 1 mA cm−2) and excellent cycling stability (≈90 days of continuous cycle test), which is attributed to the reduced carbon corrosion on the air cathode and decreased carbonation in neutral electrolyte. This work describes a robust electrolyte system that improves the cycle life of rechargeable Zn-air batteries.
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•ORR and OER of MnOx bifunctional catalyst in chloride-based electrolyte.•pH-dependent electrocatalytic activity of MnOx.•Rechargeable Zn-air battery was stable during three-months of cycling test.•Method to eliminate carbon corrosion in air cathode and carbonation in electrolyte.