Development of coatings for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrode for zinc-air batteries

公众对温室气体排放导致的全球气候变化的认识导致风能和太阳能等可再生能源的利用增加，并且即将进一步增加。这些电源本质上是间歇性的，需要有效的方法来存储电力以供以后使用。高效可靠的电化学能量存储和转换装置是采用这些替代能源的关键组成部分。这些装置是用于储存化学能的介质，这些化学能可以在以后转换回电能。拟议的项目代表了申请人和Zinc 8 Energy Solutions之间的合作努力，他们正在开发一种这样的设备。Zinc 8生产锌-空气再生燃料电池系统，也称为锌-空气混合液流电池。 锌以颗粒形式存在，是电池的燃料，并以氢氧化钾（KOH）电解质中的悬浮液形式保存在储存容器中，直到需要。当需要电力时，将锌/KOH悬浮液送至动力堆以与氧气联合收割机结合以产生电力。该过程的副产品是氧化锌（ZnO），其被送到再生器以转化回锌。在锌再生过程中产生氧气（析氧反应）并排放到大气中。该项目的目标是提高从ZnO中再生锌的效率和可靠性，主要是通过改进用于制造析氧反应电极的材料和工艺。最终，电池充电/放电循环次数需要从约2000次增加到接近1，000，000次。

Public awareness of global climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emission has led to increasing utilization of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, with further increases on the horizon. These sources are inherently intermittent in nature, necessitating effective methods of storing power for later use. Efficient and reliable electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices are a key component to adopting these alternative energy sources. These devices are the media used to store chemical energy that can be later converted back to electricity. The proposed project represents a collaborative effort between the applicant and Zinc8 Energy Solutions, who are developing one such device. Zinc8 produces zinc-air regenerative fuel cell systems, which are also known as zinc-air hybrid flow batteries. Zinc, in the form of particles, is the fuel for the battery and is maintained in a storage vessel as a suspension in a potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte until needed. When electrical power is required, the zinc/KOH suspension is sent to a power stack to combine with oxygen to produce electricity. The by-product of the process is zinc oxide (ZnO) which is sent to a regenerator for conversion back to zinc. Oxygen gas is produced (oxygen evolution reaction) during zinc regeneration and is discharged to the atmosphere. The goal of this project is to improve the efficiency and reliability of zinc regeneration from ZnO, primarily through improvements to the materials and processes used to fabricate the electrode for the oxygen evolution reaction. Ultimately the number of battery charge/discharge cycles needs to be increased from ~2000 to a value approaching 1,000,000.