THE ALUMINUM-AIR BATTERY

Abstract

The objective of this project was to determine whether or not aluminum-air battery technology may be feasible for use in electric vehicles. Alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, which are the most commonly used type of battery in electric vehicles today, have been explored due to multiple environmental and social concerns associated with their production [9, 14, 16, 26]. There are also many potential technological upsides to aluminum-air battery technology, given that they have higher theoretical energy density than lithium-ion batteries and comparable performance [25, 28]. Demonstrating rechargeable capability in aluminum-air batteries has been difficult, however, and has been a major impediment to its growth as a viable commercial option. In this project, multiple fuel cell designs were tested on and measured in terms of three performance parameters: potential (V), power density (mW/cm2), and current density (mA/cm2). Two of the fuel cells tested upon were phosphoric acid and potassium hydroxide designs, both of which have well established functionality. Parameter results from these two fuel cells were used as analogues to compare against the performance of the novel aluminum-air fuel cell prototype in order to determine whether or not it demonstrated viable performance. Ultimately, the aluminum-air fuel cells underperformed compared to the phosphoric acid and potassium hydroxide analogues. The most successful run of the aluminum-air fuel cell prototype yielded the following results: potential = 0.646 V, power density = 11.101 mW/cm2 , and current density = 17.188 mA/cm2. Future recommendations to improve these outcomes include experimenting with a different electrolyte, as it was theorized that it may have been partially solidified while undergoing testing and using a different catalyst.