Capacity recovery of aluminium–air battery by refilling salty water with cell structure modification

Abstract

By modifying the aluminium–air battery structure with placing layers of activated carbon between an aqueous NaCl electrolyte and both an aluminium anode and an air cathode, capacity recovery was observed. When the NaCl aqueous electrolyte was refilled after electrolyte evaporation, a repeatable cell capacity was obtained. It was suggested that repeatable cell capacity was obtained because by products deposited on carbon internal layer, instead of depositing on the electrodes directly. One also deducted that the large discharge current with the large cell capacity was obtained by synergetic effect of the capacitor (large electric current) and the aluminium–air battery (large cell capacity). The results suggested that aluminium-associated ions as well as sodium-associated ions may participate in the relevant electrochemical reactions.