Tapioca binder for porous zinc anodes electrode in zinc–air batteries

Tapioca was used as a binder for porous Zn anodes in an electrochemical zinc-air (Zn-air) battery system. The tapioca binder concentrations varied to find the optimum composition. The effect of the discharge rate at 100 mA on the constant current, current–potential and current density–power density of the Zn-air battery was measured and analyzed. At concentrations of 60–80 mg cm−3, the tapioca binder exhibited the optimum discharge capability, with a specific capacity of approximately 500 mA h g−1 and a power density of 17 mW cm−2. A morphological analysis proved that at this concentration, the binder is able to provide excellent binding between the Zn powders. Moreover, the structure of Zn as the active material was not affected by the addition of tapioca as the binder, as shown by the X-ray diffraction analysis. Furthermore, the conversion of Zn into ZnO represents the full utilization of the active material, which is a good indication that tapioca can be used as the binder.