Batteries operating on oxygen and aluminum “live fast and die young”, says Science News. However, there is a catch you’ll already know if you have doors and windows in the silvery material. Because aluminum degrades in the presence of air and that’s all around us. Now authors Brandon J. Hopkins, Yang Shao-Horn, and Douglas P. Hart say they have a solution. They suggest lubricating aluminum-air batteries with oil when not in use.
99% Corrosion Reduction by Lubricating Aluminum-Air Batteries
The scientists say they replaced the electrolyte with oil during standby periods. “We suppressed open-circuit corrosion by displacing electrolyte from the electrode surface with non-conducting oil during battery standby. And thereby lubricating aluminum-air batteries effectively.
This prevented corrosion and energy loss, they say. Then they re-enabled the battery by displacing the oil with electrolyte to recommission it. “The underwater-oleophobic wetting properties of the designed cell surfaces allow for reversible oil displacement,” they explain. This “enables system energy densities of 700 watt-hours per liter and 900 watt-hours per kilogram,” they add.
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There are many advantages to aluminum-air batteries. However, manufacturers regard them as futuristic, because corrosion shortens productive battery life. However, in the new design, oil acts as a buffer between the air and the metal, “greatly extending the battery’s life”.
Aluminum-air batteries have two electrodes. These are an aluminum anode, and a cathode separated by a liquid electrolyte. Oxygen molecules enter the cathode from the air. These then react through electrons to release energy to power electronic devices.
Aluminum-air batteries could be valuable backups in electric vehicles. However, until now the corrosion problem limited their usefulness. Now it seems, lubricating aluminum-air batteries between active cycles could resolve this. But first, we need a working model. How would a user substitute the electrolyte with oil, and vice versa to make this work in practice?
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Preview Image: Aluminum-Air Experimental Power Cell
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