Investigation of the degradation mechanism of the air cathode in a zinc-air battery by post-mortem analysis

The demand for electricity is growing rapidly and it is expected to double by 2050. Currently, around 12% of this energy is supplied by renewable sources of energy. While wind and solar are the fastest growing energy generation sources, they are dependent on time and weather. To solve the instability of these energy sources, energy storage systems such as redox flow batteries is required. Alkaline zinc-air redox flow batteries, have been reported as promising candidates for energy storage technologies due to high energy densities and cheap raw materials. The success of this technology is related to improvement of electrode materials applied in the air side, which is responsible for most of the losses in the battery. Vancouver-based Zinc8 Energy Solution is pursuing this technology for grid scale energy storage. This proposal aims to help them to evaluate the mechanisms of degradation of the air cathode using post-mortem analysis.

Faculty Supervisor:

Edward Roberts

Student:

Partner:

Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Calgary

Program: