Manufacturing and characterization of physically modified aluminum anodes based air battery with electrolyte circulation

Recently, the aluminum–air (Al–air) battery has spotlighted since its low cost, sustainable properties, and high theoretical potential. To improve battery performance, several approaches for Al anode modification have been introduced, such as alloy processes, metal oxide deposition, etc. However, such processes could induce critical side effects during battery operation for example, by-product creation by de-alloying, reduction of Al activity, and more. In this research, to overcome these problems, physically modified Al foils were used as Al anodes and an Al-air battery was fabricated. The Al anode was sandblasted by micro-sand blasting, employing around 10 μm beads, to increase surface area and reactivity. Indeed, an electrolyte solution was circulated between the battery structures to enhance cell stability and remove by-products from the anode reaction. The energy capacity of air battery with the sandblasted Al anode was 3.85 mWh and it was about 5 times improved than that of bare Al anode case. In addition, the energy capacity in the electrolyte circulation case was 4.5 mWh, which established that battery performance was increased about 6.5 times by the sandblasting and electrolyte circulation process. Therefore, this new type of Al-air battery has a great potential to be applied in various fields.