Fowler, MichaelCano, Zachary Paul2020-01-212020-01-212020-01-212020-01-15http://hdl.handle.net/10012/15518Zinc-air batteries have been proposed as a low-cost and energy-dense candidate to replace or supplement lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. This thesis explores the viability of zinc-air batteries in electric vehicles and experimentally investigates the use of nickel-based air electrodes. The failure mechanism of these electrodes is uncovered, and a new nickel-based air electrode having both improved cycle life and substantially lower mass and volume than previous designs is presented.enzinc-air batteriesoxygen reductionoxygen evolutionair electrodegas diffusion electrodebifunctionalelectric vehiclesDoctoral Thesis