Improved Electrochemical Performance of Zinc Anodes by EDTA in Near‐Neutral Zinc−Air Batteries

Abstract The influence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) electrolyte additive on the performance of Zn−air batteries with near‐neutral chloride‐based electrolytes was examined for primary and secondary batteries. The electrochemical measurements indicated that Zn is not completely active in neat 2 M NaCl, but still could be discharged up to 1 mA cm −2 around −1.0 V Ag/AgCl . The characterization of the Zn surfaces revealed the existence of a passive film consisting of Simonkolleite, Zn(OH) 2 , and/or ZnO. The EDTA additive enhanced the discharge voltages by 200 mV to −1.2 V Ag/AgCl indicating an active Zn surface. The effect of EDTA is explained by its chelation abilities with Zn 2+ before formation of hydroxide or oxide species. The Zn−air cells with EDTA were operated up to 930 h with specific energies up to 840 Wh kg Zn −1 . The cells could also be cycled up to 70 cycles while providing enhanced discharge voltages at 1.15 V over 50 cycles. The positive effect of EDTA is dependent on the amount of free EDTA molecules. Nevertheless, the Zn−air cells showed better performance in terms of higher discharge voltage, discharge energies, and lower overpotentials in presence of EDTA.