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PVA-based KOH polymer gel electrolyte as a membrane separator for zinc-air flow battery
Date Issued
01-01-2022
Author(s)
Sankaralingam, Ram Kishore
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Sunarso, Jaka
Bhatt, Anand I.
Kapoor, Ajay
Abstract
The anticipated future growth in the electric vehicle market is driving research and development of alternative battery technologies to lithium batteries. Among the explored batteries, metal-air batteries are an exciting option given their high potential energy density. Currently, metal-air flow batteries have received more attention over conventional metal-air batteries due to their ability to reduce metal passivation. The separator for a metal-air flow battery should be both ion-conductive and partially hydrophobic to favour the ionic movement and suppress the electrolyte flooding on the cathode. In this work, we investigate the use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based potassium hydroxide (KOH) polymer gel electrolyte (KPGE) as a membrane separator for planar zinc-air flow battery (ZAFB). The KPGE samples, i.e., S20 and S33 with respective KOH wt.% of 20 and 33 were synthesised. Their surface morphology, porosity, tensile strength, and ionic conductivity were studied. Among the samples, S33 sample with higher KOH content showed higher ionic conductivity than S20 sample however the tensile strength of S33 sample was lower than the S20 sample. When tested in the battery, ZAFB with S33 sample demonstrated higher nominal voltage and improved polarisation characteristics when compared to the ZAFB with S20 sample.
Volume
64