Effect of surface free energy of acetylene black powder on air electrode performance

The effects of acetylene black powder surface free energy on air electrode electrochemical performance and lifetime were studied. The acetylene black was immersed in 30% H2O2 at room temperature and the changes of functional groups and surface free energy were investigated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectros-copy (XPS) and powder contact angle (CA). The air electrode performance was characterized by the potential polarization curves and the lifetime was measured by constant-current discharge. It shows that, its surface free energy is the lowest when the acetylene black is immersed in H2O2 for 240 h. The polarization potential of the air electrode prepared by the pretreated acetylene black is 0.25 V(vs. Hg/HgO), 0.21 V lower than the air electrode with untreated acetylene black when the working current density is 100 mA.cm−1. And its lifetime is over 800 h at 80 mA.cm−1. The pretreatment of acetylene black for proper time by H2O2 is favorable for the stability of the tri-phase reaction interface of air electrode and improvement of its performance.