The influence of aluminum anode alloys and alkaline electrolyte composition on performance of aluminum-air cells for portable applications

Abstract

The influence of the composition of alkaline electrolyte and some anode alloys on performance of cells of aluminum-air power sources without electrolyte regeneration and circulation circuits is investigated in order to elaborate proposals for construction of portable sources. It is shown that with pure aluminum anodes, the cell capacity grows with increasing electrolyte concentration; At the same time, the use of potassium electrolytes with the same molar concentration as that of sodium electrolytes at lower electrolyte temperatures yields a considerable gain in specific capacity of cells. The use of aluminum alloys doped with indium and gallium or bismuth and gallium permits one to increase the specific capacity of cells with sodium electrolyte by 100–150 A·h per liter of electrolyte in a wide range of concentrations and at various electrolyte temperatures.