ELECTROLYTES AND THEIR

CORROSION POTENTIAL ON
MAGNESIUM-COPPER CELLS
Prepared by: Kevin Miranda
WHAT MAKES A GOOD
BATTERY?
Battery life
High Cell Voltage + Low Weight
High Specific Energy
Power output
No Side Reactions High
Coulombic Efficiency (>99.0%)
Cost
Low cost materials High
Adaptation
WHAT MAKES A GOOD
ELECTROLYTE?
Coulombic Efficiency
Electrolytes must be chosen so as to
minimize side reactions and prevent
corrosion
Conductivity
Capacity of electrolyte to create
potential without decomposing
Creation of Solid Electrolyte
Interphase (SEI)
Form SEI without overexpansion
SEI increases surface resistance
Also extends electrode life by
preventing further corrosion of
electrodes
APPLICATONS
Stationary Energy Storage
Requirement: Low Cost
Utility-scale grid stabilization,
Uninterrupted Power Supply (e.g.
hospitals, schools, social
facilities), and home use (e.g.
wind farm, solar cells)
Partially Hybrid Electric Vehicles
(PHEV)
Requirement: High Power
Energy should be provided
quickly
Energy is stored in gas tank
Electric Vehicles
Requirement: High Capacity
Battery is only available location
for energy storage
Minimize number of charges
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
CONDUCTED
PROCEDURE
1. Prepare electrolyte solution (1M, solubility)
2. Polish copper and magnesium electrodes
using 240 & 320 grit sandpaper
3. Wet separator (cotton or paper) in
electrolyte
4. Build cell by placing separator between
electrodes
5. Attach cell(s) to GAMRY cell and collect
Ecorr vs. Time data
INITIAL EXPERIMENTATION
Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO
4
)
Alum Potash (AlK(SO
4
)
2
)
Acetic Acid (CH
3
CO
2
H)
Distilled Water
Ethylene Glycol (Antifreeze) used as
corrosion inhibitor
Chlorides, sulfates, and foreign
materials [] can promote
corrosion and pitting []
[] magnesium oxide is converted
to magnesium hydroxide [] and is
stable in the presence of most
bases, but rapidly breaks down in
the presence of acids.
3-CELL CORROSION POTENTIAL
Antifreeze inhibitor causes voltage to reach asymptote Lack of inhibitor results in continued voltage drop
SINGLE CELL POTENTIAL AS A
FUNCTION OF ELECTROLYTE
Average Potential per cell: 1.86V (sans H
2
O)

Average Potential per cell: 1.84V (sans H
2
O)
DATA GATHERED FOR SINGLE CELLS
Units (V) H
2
O H
2
O +AF Acetic Acetic +AF Alum Alum +AF MgSO
4
MgSO
4
+AF
Average 1.47 1.50 1.71 1.87 1.98 1.87 1.83 1.85
Run #1 1.54 1.34 1.66 1.88 1.99 1.84 1.87 1.83
Run #2 1.40 1.65 1.76 1.86 1.97 1.90 1.78 1.86
Corrosion with Acetic Acid Original 3-cell stack Corrosion with Distilled Water
CHOOSING A NEW ELECTROLYTE
Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)
High pH (12.7)
Inexpensive
High electronegativity of potassium
High diffusion/solubility
Possibly passive (high internal
resistance/impedance)
Pourbaix chart for Magnesium at STP
POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE
Data collected for 3600s
Similar performance at 1800
seconds (30 minutes) with
voltage approaching ~2.4V
Only Acetic Acid and Alum, both highly
corrosive, remained significantly above
No asymptote is approached
No inhibitor used
Passivation shown by lack of
corrosion
RUN 1
Initial Voltage: 2.87V
Final Voltage @ 2750s: 2.01V
Final Voltage @3600s of selected linear
data (est.): 1.21V
Final Voltage @3600s of all data (est.):
1.68V
Average corrosion rate:
V/time= -0.00038V/s
V/time of selected data: -0.00046V/s
V/time of all data: -0.00031V/s
% Error: 20.0%

RUN 2
Initial Voltage: 3.13 V
Final Voltage: 1.250V
Using linear regression on entire data:
1.30V
Linear regression on selected linear data:
1.58V
Average corrosion rate:
V/time= -0.00049V/s
V/time of selected data:
-0.00046V/s
V/time of all data: -0.00051V/s
% Error= 4.49%
RUN 3
Initial voltage: 2.84V
Final Voltage: 1.03V
Using linear regression on entire data:
0.94V
Linear regression on selected linear
data: 0.92V
Average corrosion rate: V/time=
-0.00035V/s
V/time of selected data=
-0.00033V/s
V/time of all data: -0.00036V/s
% Error: 5.16%


INDIVIDUAL CELL
POTENTIAL
Average voltage per cell
decreased 0.75V
Visible corrosion was greatly
reduced

VISIBLE CORROSION ON COPPER
CORROSION MAGNIFIED (COPPER)
VISIBLE CORROSION ON MAGNESIUM
CORROSION MAGNIFIED
(MAGNESIUM)
CONCLUSION AND FURTHER WORK
Electrolyte:
High pH reduces corrosion at cost of lower
overall single cell potential
Low pH (acids) and sulfates increase single
cell potential but raise rate of corrision
KOH (1.1V) offers less potential and corrosion
than water (1.5v), but can it increase power?
Antifreeze (inhibitor) helps stabilize corrosion
Materials:
Magnesium is highly susceptible to corrosion
Can we obtain Pourbaix immunity zone?
Battery application is decided by its strengths

Suggested future work:
Test other high pH electrolytes
Obtain electrolyte yielding 2.8V per cell
Is Copper-Magnesium a good battery?
Make use of inhibitors to find asymptote
Find V
oc
voltage
Calculate internal resistance of battery
Power (Coulombic efficiency)
Current density
Is Copper-Magnesium cell rechargeable?
Calculate capacity (Energy density)
Estimate Cost



THANK YOU
DR. BAVARIAN & PROFESSOR REINER
QUESTIONS?