Production of a NiO/Al primary battery employing powder‐based electrodes

• Published in: Electrophoresis Vol. 41; no. 1-2; pp. 131 - 136
• Main Authors: Burrola, Samantha, Horii, Maya, Gonzalez‐Guerrero, Maria Jose, Bachman, John Christopher, Gomez, Frank A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2020
• Subjects: alkaline battery; Aluminum; Aluminum - chemistry; Anodes; Design modifications; Electric Power Supplies; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Electrolytes - chemistry; Equipment Design; Hydroxides - chemistry; Multilayers; Nickel - chemistry; Nickel oxides; NiO‐Al battery; paper based battery; Potassium Compounds - chemistry; Potassium hydroxides; powder based electrodes; Powders; Primary batteries; Separators; Substrates; Viability; Zinc - chemistry; alkaline battery; paper based battery; powder based electrodes; NiO-Al battery
• ISSN: 0173-0835; 1522-2683
• DOI: 10.1002/elps.201900255

This paper describes the use of aluminum and zinc as anodic materials for a battery employing nickel (II) oxide (NiO) as cathode. Comparison of both materials resulted in the development of a compact, cost effective, and easy to use primary NiO/Al battery employing an alkaline electrolyte. The system features electrodes composed of powder forms of the active materials on modified paper substrates that are contained in a simple multilayer design utilizing thin laminated plastic materials to provide structure and flexibility to the battery as well as a paper separator. Various concentrations of potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte were examined and maximum performance was observed at 6 M KOH. A maximum current density and power density of 1.94 mA/cm2 and 1 mW/cm2, respectively was achieved. This user‐friendly device was able to produce a maximum capacity of 2.33 mAh/g when 2 mA/g was applied. This work demonstrates the viability of a paper‐based battery featuring powder electrodes as a possible power source for microelectronic devices.