Developing High Performance Zinc Alkaline Primary Battery Systems with Novel Anion Permeable Exchange Membrane Separators

Flow-permeable separators were synthesized and evaluated to determine the impact of ion exchange separators on the performance of the convection battery.  A zinc–alkaline system was used to evaluate this performance and was operated at conditions of high over-potential across the separator. New types of anion exchange membranes (AEM) were synthesized to allow utilizing the coated separators for faster transport of counter- ions, in comparison with stationary inert porous separators. Accordingly, discharge behavior of primary battery systems with or without AEM coatings and corresponding Ionic transport mechanism of this new selective membranes are presented. For the convection battery, surface and solid phase transport mechanisms in the separator are particularly important.