Coating on Zinc Surface to Improve the Electrochemical Behavior of Zinc Anodes for Zinc-Air Fuel Cells

The corrosion of Zn anode, associated with corrosion current and hydrogen evolution reaction, is a major reason for capacity loss and safety problems. As a way of improving the current issue, a newly coating method using difference of melting points has been attempted to synthesize anode materials and found to be highly effective. Effects of corrosion inhibitors are also investigated by diverse electrochemical techniques. The Tafel extrapolation shows the reduced corrosion current compared with that of pure Zn. ZnNi-2 (Zn:Ni, 95:5 wt.%) demonstrates the hydrogen overpotential is shifted to the most negative value as -1.7 V vs. Hg/HgO.