Revealing Surface Changes in a Transparent Gallium Air Battery

Coley, Donald T.; Bodinizzo, Nicole; Barton, Shayne M.

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Revealing Surface Changes in a Transparent Gallium Air Battery

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To account for the increasing demand for energy, we need to discover the next advancement in clean energy. When compared to its commercially available counterpart Zinc, Gallium boasts 150% the theoretical energy density Zinc has and can introduce liquid kinetics at reasonable temperature ranges. Previous MQPs have tried using a liquid gallium anode battery configuration with promising results in a Swagelok configuration. This project looked to identify the mechanisms for failure within the liquid metal-air battery configuration in a transparent and semi-flexible configuration. The goal was to design and construct a lab test cell battery to visualize the electrochemical reaction during charge and discharge. The resulting studies highlight the self-actuating movement during charge and discharge due to the gallium oxide-gallium surface tension interface. The major findings of this study were: 1) the effects of gallium oxide formation in thin interfaces, 2) electrolysis can hinder the rechargeability of the cell with a liquid electrolyte, 3) rechargeability of the cell is dependent on the maintenance of KOH electrolyte in the configuration.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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