A Simple Coin Cell Design for Testing Rechargeable Zinc-Air or Alkaline Battery Systems

Coin cells require small amounts of material, can have good reproducibility, are easily fabricated in large quantities and have small space requirements that allow many cells to be tested simultaneously under controlled conditions. If thin electrodes are used, concerns over bulk electrode issues can be alleviated, making coin cells an ideal research tool for testing new active materials, electrode material recipes, electrolytes and separators. This work focused on the choice of materials for the components in an alkaline Nickel-Zinc coin cell. The experiments showed that nickel should be used for all positive electrode side components, including the current collector, while tin should be used for all negative electrode side components. A non-woven separator as well as a microporous separator are both required for long cycle life. Nickel-Zinc coin cells created in this work achieved Nickel active material utilizations over 100% and cycle lives of over 300 cycles with unoptimized electrode materials. The procedures and recipes developed may be of value for researchers working on rechargeable Zn-air cells.