Development and Evaluation of Anode Alloys for Aluminum/Air Batteries: Final Report

摘要

Experimental and theoretical studies are reported on the development of aluminum alloys for alkaline aluminum-air batteries. This work begins by analyzing the thermodyanmics of aluminum in LiOH, NaOH, and KOH solutions as a function of concentration (0 to 7 mol kg alkali) and temperature (25 to 100 deg C). The thermodynamic data define the conditions under which precipitation of Al(OH) sub 3 may occur but, more importantly for this study, they yield equilibrium potentials for various charge transfer reactions, including aluminum dissolution, Al(OH) sub 3 and A100H formation, AlH sub 3 formation, oxygen reduction, and hydrogen evoltuion. These data are used in our mechanistic analyses of aluminum electrodissolution. The findings of this work form the basis of a working model for the activation of aluminum alloy fuels for alkaline aluminum-air batteries, in which activation is attributed to the oxidative dissolution of a protective layer of metallic alloying elements (principally gallium) from the surface at a voltage of approximately 1.5 V (HgHgO). This model is now being used to design and prepare new high energy density anodes for Alair batteries. 29 refs., 87 figs., 39 tabs. (ERA citation 13:030390)