Spruce wood-derived monolithic carbon cathode for rechargeable zinc-air batteries

Document Type : Complete scientific research article

Authors

1 Doctoral student of the Department of Wood Technology and Engineering, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Wood Technology and Engineering, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

3 Professor, Department of Wood Technology and Engineering, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

4 Assistant Professor, Department of Wood Technology and Engineering, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

5 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Materials Science, Department of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Rechargeable zinc-air batteries, due to their relatively high energy density, environmental compatibility, safety resulting from non-flammable electrolytes, and affordability, are considered promising alternative energy storage systems to today's lithium-ion batteries for power supply. However, the practical energy density achieved in zinc-air batteries is still far lower than the theoretical value, and the slow electrochemical kinetics of the air cathode reactions is one of the most important factors involved. This research aims to evaluate the performance of monolithic carbon electrodes derived from spruce wood as air cathodes in zinc-air batteries.

Materials and Methods: In this study, air-dried sapwood of spruce (Picea orientalis) was employed as the starting material for fabricating carbon electrodes. First, the initial wood pieces were cut into cross-sectional, radial, and tangential blocks with dimensions of 3 * 50 * 50 mm and converted into monolithic carbon electrodes via slow pyrolysis under an inert atmosphere using specific temperature programs. All pyrolyzed samples were sanded to a thickness of about 1 mm. The effect of the maximum pyrolysis temperature (800 and 1000 °C) and the type of wood cutting on the morphological and physicochemical properties of the produced carbon electrodes and their electrochemical performance in zinc-air batteries were investigated and analyzed.

Findings: The results showed a significant influence of the maximum pyrolysis temperature and the type of wood cutting relative to the fiber direction on the electrochemical performance of the carbon electrodes fabricated as air cathodes. Increasing the maximum pyrolysis temperature from 800 to 1000 °C improved the electrochemical performance of the carbon electrodes. Additionally, monolithic carbon electrodes derived from spruce wood with large cross-sectional surface areas exhibited superior electrochemical characteristics compared to their counterparts (samples with large tangential and radial surface areas). Overall, zinc-air batteries assembled with carbon cathode electrodes of large cross-sectional area and fabricated at a pyrolysis temperature of 1000 °C exhibited significantly superior electrochemical performance in impedance spectroscopy and linear sweep voltammetry tests.

Conclusion: In summary, the enhanced electrochemical performance of the air cathodes with increasing maximum pyrolysis temperature was attributed to the development of the structural porosity and specific surface area of the prepared electrodes. For spruce wood-derived electrodes, the key role of longitudinally oriented tracheids, along with the smaller thickness of the fabricated monolithic carbon electrodes compared to tracheid length, likely facilitated electrolyte and electron transport within the large cross-sectional area cathode electrodes. This efficient transport mechanism is believed to contribute to the improved overall electrochemical performance of the cell.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Wood and Forest Science and Technology
Volume 31, Issue 1
April 2024
Pages 159-178

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