Sessile drop studies on polybromide/zinc-bromine battery electrolyte

Journal Article · Sun Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · J. Electrochem. Soc.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2124267· OSTI ID:5451516

Kinoshita, K; Leach, S C

Improvements in the performance of zinc-bromine batteries have been observed with electrolytes containing a quaternary ammonium salt that complexes the bromine to reduce the concentration of free bromine in solution. A variety of quaternary ammonium salts that complex bromine to form a so-called polybromide oil have been considered. Various papers have discussed measurements of the physicochemical properties of the two-component system of bromine-quaternary ammonium bromide in an aqueous medium. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interfacial tension of polybromide oils on the electrolytes for zinc-bromine batteries by reporting a study of the interfacial tension and contact angle of polybromide oil drops in which the sessile drop method is used. The interfacial tensions for the polybromide phases are found to be considerably lower than the values commonly reported for two-phase systems containing organic and aqueous phases. However, several two-phase systems, such as benzyl alcohol/water, furfural/water, and ethyl acetate/water have low interfacial tension comparable to that of the polybromide/electrolyte system. The low interfacial tension of the polybromide oil phase has important practical implications for the zinc-bromine battery. A stable emulsion can be produced very readily; small drops of the polybromide-oil phase can thus be stabilized with the electrolyte phase and can be expected to enhance the mass transfer of bromine from the polybromide to the electrode.

• Research Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA
• OSTI ID: 5451516
• Journal Information: J. Electrochem. Soc.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Electrochem. Soc.; (United States) Vol. 129:8; ISSN JESOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
250903* -- Energy Storage-- Batteries-- Materials
Components
& Auxiliaries
AMINES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
BROMIDES
BROMINE COMPOUNDS
CALCULATION METHODS
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRIC BATTERIES
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTRODES
ELECTROLYTES
ELEMENTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
INTERFACES
MEASURING METHODS
METAL-NONMETAL BATTERIES
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUATERNARY COMPOUNDS
SURFACE PROPERTIES
SURFACE TENSION
TITANIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
ZINC
ZINC-BROMINE BATTERIES