Zinc air battery

Zinc air batteries are receiving a significant attention in the last years. They have a high capacity, low cost, low toxicity and they are competitive with state of the art batteries (Li-ion, NiMH). In zinc-air batteries, zinc is oxidized by oxygen taken from the surrounding air. Battery is constructed from four components: zinc anode, air cathode, separator and electrolyte (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Zinc air battery.

The wider application is limited by a several factors:

• Hydrogen evolution on anode during charging and zinc corrosion
• Dendrite formation at zinc anode during cycling
• Overpotentials at air cathode
• Degradation of the electrolyte caused by CO2.