Fabrication and Characterization of Novel Zinc Air Battery Cathodes Using Electrospinning and Electrospraying Techniques

Abstract

High specific energy density, low cost, and relative safety make zinc air batteries a promising energy storage technology. However, to fully realize their advantages improvements must be made to increase their efficiency, in terms of both energy and power density. This work focuses on designing novel cathode materials for zinc air flow batteries with improved mass transport and electrochemical properties. Electrospinning and electrospraying techniques were used to develop highly porous gas diffusion layers and high surface area catalyst layers, respectively. The physical characteristics of these materials were evaluated and compared to a commercial cathode material. Electrospun fiber mats were shown to offer favorable mass transport characteristics over the reference material, and electrosprayed catalyst layers offered high specific surface area. A test cell was designed and used to evaluate the electrochemical performance of the cathode materials in this work. Results of those experiments showed that electrosprayed catalyst layers performed better than the reference material, and that more development of electrospun and electrosprayed materials is justified.