Electrolyte-based on-demand and disposable microbattery

• Published in: Journal of microelectromechanical systems Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 840 - 847
• Main Authors: Lee, Ki Bang, Lin, Liwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.12.2003; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Actuators; Applied sciences; Batteries; Battery; Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation; Droplets; Electric potential; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electrochemical conversion: primary and secondary batteries, fuel cells; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Gold; Hydrogen peroxide; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Lithography, masks and pattern transfer; Mechanical instruments, equipment and techniques; Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology); Micromachining; Micromechanical devices; Micromechanical devices and systems; Microorganisms; Physics; Power generation; Power supplies; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Voltage; Zinc; disposable micropower; Index Terms-Battery; microsystems; Secondary cells; Experimental study; Micromachine; Battery; Surface micromachining; Modelling; MEMS; Microelectromechanical device; Production process; micromachines
• ISSN: 1057-7157; 1941-0158
• DOI: 10.1109/JMEMS.2003.820272

A micromachined battery based on liquid electrolyte and metal electrodes for on-demand and disposable usages has been successfully demonstrated. The microbattery uses gold as the positive electrode and zinc as the negative electrode and is fabricated by using the standard surface micromachining technology. Two kinds of electrolytes have been tested, including the combination of sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide. The operation of the battery can be on-demand by putting a droplet of electrolyte to activate the operation. Theoretical voltage and capacity of the microbattery are formulated and compared with experimental results. The experimental study shows that a maximum voltage of 1.5 V and maximum capacity of 122.2 /spl mu/W-min have been achieved by using a single droplet of about 0.5 /spl mu/l of sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide.