Preliminary Results of Seawater-Polymer-Electrolyte Metal-Air Battery*

This study explores the possibility of using seawater and environmentally friendly materials to create polymer electrolytes for metal-air batteries, a potential energy source. The battery’s separator, or polymer electrolyte, was made by doping PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) with NaOH(aq) or untreated seawater. Aluminum and magnesium were used as the anode and copper plate as the cathode. The results are promising. The aluminum-air cell had an open-cell voltage of 1.2 V with electrolytes made from NaOH (aq) -doped PVA. The magnesium-air cell had a higher open-cell voltage in the range of 1.3 to 1.4 V with electrolytes made from seawater-doped PVA. The batteries performed consistently over continuous runtimes of 12 or 24 hours, with the magnesium-air battery achieving a 24-hour runtime.