Díaz-Patiño Lucia, Guerra-Balcázar Minerva, Álvarez-Contreras Lorena, Arjona Noé
Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico en Electroquímica, Sanfandila, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro 76703, Mexico.
División de Investigación y Posgrado, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro 76010, Mexico.
Gels. 2024 Sep 12;10(9):587. doi: 10.3390/gels10090587.
Zn-air batteries (ZABs) are a promising technology; however, their commercialization is limited by challenges, including those occurring in the electrolyte, and thus, gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) and hydrogels have emerged as substitutes for traditional aqueous electrolytes. In this work, PVA/PAA membranes were synthesized by the solvent casting method and soaked in 6 M KOH to act as GPEs. The thickness of the membrane was modified (50, 100, and 150 μm), and after determining the best thickness, the membrane was modified with synthesized SiO nanospheres and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). SEM micrographs revealed that the CNTs displayed lengths of tens of micrometers, having a narrow diameter (95 ± 7 nm). In addition, SEM revealed that the SiO nanospheres had homogeneous shapes with sizes of 110 ± 10 nm. Physicochemical experiments revealed that SiO incorporation at 5 wt.% increased the water uptake of the PVA/PAA membrane from 465% to 525% and the ionic conductivity to 170 mS cm. The further addition of 0.5 wt.% CNTs did not impact the water uptake but it promoted a porous structure, increasing the power density and the stability, showing three-times-higher rechargeability than the ZAB operated with the PVA/PAA GPE.
锌空气电池（ZABs）是一项很有前景的技术；然而，它们的商业化受到诸多挑战的限制，包括电解质中出现的问题，因此，凝胶聚合物电解质（GPEs）和水凝胶已成为传统水性电解质的替代品。在这项工作中，通过溶液浇铸法合成了PVA/PAA膜，并将其浸泡在6M KOH中用作GPEs。对膜的厚度进行了调整（50、100和150μm），在确定最佳厚度后，用合成的SiO纳米球和多壁碳纳米管（CNTs）对膜进行了改性。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）显微照片显示，CNTs的长度为几十微米，直径较窄（95±7nm）。此外，SEM显示SiO纳米球形状均匀，尺寸为110±10nm。物理化学实验表明，加入5wt.%的SiO可使PVA/PAA膜的吸水率从465%提高到525%，离子电导率提高到170mS/cm。进一步添加0.5wt.%的CNTs对吸水率没有影响，但促进了多孔结构的形成，提高了功率密度和稳定性，其可充电性是使用PVA/PAA GPE的ZAB的三倍。
