Battery in the form of a cement-matrix composite

Abstract

Reported here is a battery in the form of a cement-matrix composite, with cement paste as the matrix, the pore solution in cement as the electrolyte, zinc particles dispersed in the matrix as the anode, manganese dioxide particles dispersed in the matrix as the cathode, and carbon black dispersed in the matrix as the conductive additive in both anode and cathode regions. The electrolyte is continuous throughout the battery, which consists of successively cast and co-cured anode, electrolyte and cathode layers. The anode layer (4 mm thick) comprises cement and zinc particles. The cathode layer (8 mm thick) comprises cement and manganese dioxide particles. The electrolyte layer (2 mm thick) is cement with an embedded piece of tissue paper for drying shrinkage control. The battery attained open-circuit voltage up to 0.72 V, current up to 120 μA (current density up to 3.8 μA/cm2), power output up to 1.4 μW/cm2, capacity up to 0.2 mA h, and fraction of zinc consumed up to 5 × 10−5.