Preliminary study of alkaline single flowing Zn–O2 battery

A new single flow alkaline battery, Zn–K2[Zn(OH)]4–O2 battery, in which electrodeposited zinc is employed as an negative electrode and the oxygen in atmosphere as an high-capacity positive electrode active material is developed. The working process of the battery only depends on the circulation of a single electrolyte solution with assistance of a single pump and no cationic membrane is needed. The newly designed dual catalytical layers of composite oxygen electrode employs nano-structured Ni(OH)2 and the electrolytic manganese dioxide doped with NaBiO3 as two types of novel highly-efficient catalysts for oxygen evolution and reduction process, respectively. Cell (grade 1000 mAh) test results show that high efficiency is achieved with an average coulombic efficiency of 97.4% and an energy efficiency of 72.2% in 150 cycles.