High performance aluminum-air battery for sustainable power generation

Metal-air battery is receiving vast attention due to its promising capabilities as an energy storage system for the post lithium-ion era. The electricity is generated through oxidation and reduction reaction within the anode and cathode. Among various types of metal-air battery, aluminum-air battery is the most attractive candidate due to its high energy density and environmentally friendly. In this study, a novel polypropylene-based dual electrolyte aluminum-air battery is developed. Polypropylene pads are used as a medium to absorb the electrolyte, isolate the anode and cathode, control the hydrogen generation in the parasitic reaction. Potassium hydroxide is used as anolyte and sulfuric acid is used as catholyte. Parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of electrolyte concentration and polypropylene separator thickness on the performance of the battery. The results show that the dual-electrolyte system can boost the open circuit voltage to 2.2 V as compared to the single electrolyte system for 5 M of anolyte while maintaining specific discharge capacity of about 1390.92 mAh.g−1. The maximum peak power density has improved dramatically from 100 mW.cm−2 to 350 mW cm−2 for the dual electrolyte system