Recent Developments for Aluminum–Air Batteries

Abstract

Abstract: Environmental concerns such as climate change due to rapid population growth are becoming increasingly serious and require amelioration. One solution is to create large capacity batteries that can be applied in electricity-based applications to lessen dependence on petroleum. Here, aluminum–air batteries are considered to be promising for next-generation energy storage applications due to a high theoretical energy density of 8.1 kWh kg−1 that is significantly larger than that of the current lithium-ion batteries. Based on this, this review will present the fundamentals and challenges involved in the fabrication of aluminum–air batteries in terms of individual components, including aluminum anodes, electrolytes and air cathodes. In addition, this review will discuss the possibility of creating rechargeable aluminum–air batteries. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]