Experimental Research of Liquid Infiltration and Leakage in Zinc Air Battery

摘要

Zinc-air batteries, despite their advantages of high energy density, operational safety, economic andtechnical viability, are limited by the problem of electrolyte leakage. This study presents a study onthis problem and its effects on the performance of a zinc air battery. To elucidate the cause(s) ofleakage, the following experiments were performed: determination of the surface properties of a filmof PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) (main constituent of porous air electrode and porous diffusionlayer), air-cooled discharge with two auxiliary tests porous air electrode voltage analysis andelectroosmosis. The experimental results showed that: the hydrophobicity of a PTFE film isprogressively reduced when it is soaked in a solution of KOH; liquid infiltration is most prominentwhen KOH solution is used as the conductive medium; in addition, temperature and voltage also affectthe liquid infiltration phenomenon.