Microfluidic Zinc-Air Cell

In this work, a microfluidic Zin-Air cell operated with a flow-through concept was constructed electrodepositing zinc on carbon paper electrodes by chronoamperometry. Additionally, chemically obtained α-MnO 2 and Mn 3 O 4 spinel were used as cathodes, and the cell performance was also compared with benchmarked Pt/C. Zinc electrodeposition time, flow rate, KOH electrolyte concentration and cathodic material were the variables herein evaluated. Zinc at 60 min was the best anodic material, and the maximum cell performance (~450 mW cm -2 ) was achieved at 4 M KOH and 3 mL h -1 . α-MnO 2 and Mn 3 O 4 spinel presented half-wave overpotentials of 92 and 127 mV in contrast with benchmarked Pt/C, and during cell evaluation, these materials displayed power densities of 308 and 317 mW cm -2 , respectively.