A mixed-pH dual-electrolyte microfluidic aluminum–air cell with high performance

Abstract

Energy storage capacity has been a major limiting factor in pursuit of increasing functionality and mobility for portable devices. To increase capacity limits, novel battery designs with multi-electron redox couples and increased voltages have been listed as a priority research direction by the US Department of Energy. This study leverages the benefits of microfluidics technology to develop a novel mixed-pH media aluminum–air cell which incorporates the advantages of the trivalence of aluminum and mixed-pH thermodynamics. Experimentally, the new cell exhibited an open circuit potential of 2.2 V and a maximum power density of 176 mW cm−2, which are respectively 37.5% and 104.6% higher than conventional single alkaline aluminum–air cell under similar conditions. With further optimization of channel thickness, a power density of 216 mW cm−2 was achieved in the present study.