Electrodeposition of preferentially oriented zinc for flow-assisted alkaline batteries

Divyaraj Desai, Xia Wei, Daniel Artemus Steingart, Sanjoy Banerjee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

65 Scopus citations

Abstract

Preferred orientation of zinc deposits during charging is shown to significantly improve performance and cycle life in flow-assisted alkaline zinc batteries, which has not been demonstrated earlier. The preferred orientation of zinc deposits was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Compact zinc is found to have (112̄2) preferred orientation on brass, which contributes to ∼60% of the texture. The effect of charging current and zincate concentration on morphology was investigated in a rotating hull cell and correlated with anodic efficiency. Compact zinc deposits are found to have a fine-grained, bright finish and the highest anodic efficiency. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) proves that compact zinc corresponds to the minimum in the half-cell resistance. Morphological control using compact zinc could be accomplished using innovations such as pulse charging or enhanced mass-transfer to improve anode performance without affecting the cathode.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)145-152
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Power Sources
Volume256
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 15 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • Flow battery
  • Impedance spectroscopy (EIS)
  • Preferred orientation
  • X-ray diffraction (XRD)
  • Zinc morphology

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