Ionic liquid batteries: Chemistry to replace alkaline/acid energy storage devices

Rather than depend on highly acidic or basic electrolytes, ionic liquids are used to create new types of solid state cells which mimic standard alkaline cells, but without the need for caustic electrolytes. Presented here is a non-aqueous approach to primary and secondary power sources, where the pure ionic liquid not only acts as the electrolyte/separator in both liquid and solid state batteries, but as a reactive species in the cell's electrochemical makeup. In this work, batteries are designed using standard cathode and anode materials such as MnO2/Carbon, PbO2, NiO, AgO and Zn. However, by using a solid polymer electrolyte composed of an ionic liquid and polyvinyl alcohol, novel types of solid state batteries are demonstrated with discharge voltages ranging up to 1.8 V, dependent upon the type of cathode and anode used. These batteries are characterized by ionic conductivity, initial voltage measurements, and discharge profiles.