Development of a High Energy Density Flexible Zinc-Air Battery

Abstract

© 2016 The Author(s). This work involved the development of a high energy density flexible zinc-air battery by means of an inexpensive screen-printing technique. A very thin and highly porous cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) fabricated by screen-printing of carbon black ink promoted oxygen permeability, resulting in a better and more efficient three-phase reaction zone. Moreover, a cathode current collector (printed using nano-silver ink) also functioned as a catalyst layer. The incorporation of this layer enabled the printed battery to be capable of high rates of discharge by promoting oxygen reduction reaction which has a decisive impact on its performance. The thickness of the GDL can be manipulated by adjusting the composition of the carbon black ink. The fabricated battery with 30 μm GDL provided an open-circuit voltage of 1.45 V and 15 - 185 mA·cm-2 ohmic loss zone and demonstrated high energy density of 682 Wh·kg-1. Furthermore, the battery was tested for its flexibility by bending it and discharging it at 2.0 mA·cm-2. The results showed that upon bending, the battery showed no difference in characteristics of voltage or discharging time.