An Aluminum Anode with Superior Discharge Characteristics Prepared via Grain Refinement

Abstract

AbstractAs Electric Vehicles became more important in the field of energy, the disadvantages of lithium‐ion batteries became apparent. This led to an increased interest in metal‐air batteries, particularly aluminum‐air batteries, as alternatives to lithium‐ion batteries. However, aluminum‐air batteries also have their own deficiencies, with one of the main areas of research being the improvement of anode characteristics. Improving anode characteristics is a crucial area of research in this field. Aluminum alloys have traditionally been used to overcome obstacles in creating batteries with favorable electrochemical properties. However, recent studies suggest that reducing the grain size of aluminum anodes can have positive effects. In this study, we investigated the electrochemical behavior of three aluminum alloys that were grain‐refined by Al‐5Ti‐1B and compared the results to a commonly used aluminum alloy as an anode in aluminum‐air batteries. We chose Al−Ti alloys with variable amounts of titanium (0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 wt.%) for evaluation. We selected a 4 molar potassium hydroxide solution as the test electrolyte due to the merits of alkaline electrolytes. Our study found that the alloy with 0.05 wt.% of titanium is the best anode choice. This anode has promising discharge characteristics at high current density (50 mA/cm2) and is an appropriate choice for electric vehicles.