Protective Coating for Zinc Electrodes of Zinc–Air Battery in a Neutral Electrolyte

Sonia Bagheri (), Benedetto Bozzini, Carola Esposito Corcione, Raffaella Striani and Claudio Mele ()
Additional contact information
Sonia Bagheri: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Benedetto Bozzini: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambuschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Carola Esposito Corcione: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Raffaella Striani: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Claudio Mele: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-15

Abstract: This work introduces a novel approach to enhancing the performance of zinc anodes in zinc–air batteries through a photopolymerizable organic–inorganic hybrid coating. Electrochemical tests were conducted in a neutral NaCl electrolyte, selected to minimize electrolyte carbonation, anode corrosion, and zinc dendrite formation. The behavior of bare and coated zinc electrodes was investigated using linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiostatic measurements, galvanostatic discharge tests, and charge-discharge tests, while morphological and structural characterizations were carried out by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The results confirmed that the hybrid coating acts as a corrosion-resistant barrier, enhancing the reversibility and stability of zinc electrodes through a barrier mechanism. Charge–discharge tests further confirmed the improved performance of the coated electrode, obtaining at a current density of 1 mA/cm 2 , a coulombic efficiency of 92.61% and a capacity retention of 90.18%, respectively, after 16 cycles. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the photopolymerizable hybrid coating in improving the durability and rechargeability of zinc–air batteries.

Keywords: photopolymerizable coating; zinc electrode; AFM; Zn-air battery; neutral electrolyte (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/21/5599/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/21/5599/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:21:p:5599-:d:1779072

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Cassie Shen

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().