Original Research Article

Copper-Zinc Battery’s Performance with Different Electrolytes

Jiaxuan Li*
Syosset High School, Syosset 11791, New York, US. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This research evaluates how different electrolytes affect the voltage output of a battery. As one of the few
types of devices capable of storing electrical energy, batteries are extremely efficient and reliable. They are widely
adopted in a great number of devices, hence they are important to our daily life. How to construct better batteries will
always be one of the most crucial challenges of our developments in energy. In this research we tested two different salt
solutions, NaCl solution and KOH solution, on a Cu-Zn cell to see which works better.
Keywords: NaCl Electrolyte; KOH Electrolyte; Cu-Zn Battery; Effect of Different Electrolytes on Battery Voltage Out-
put

1. Introduction 1.1 volt in open circuit voltage for electricity, if we ana-

lyze the theoretical standard potentials for Copper and
The Copper-Zinc battery[1] adopts an electrolytic
Zinc.
cell structure. It is easy and cheap to produce. Ad-
In this research paper, we use home-available tools and
vantages of a Cu-Zn battery include scalability, long life,
common materials to construct a Copper-Zinc battery.
efficiency, and abundance of materials to produce them.
The idea here is to investigate the role of the electrolyte
Although Cu-Zn batteries offer unique advantages, they
on the battery cell voltage in case of variations from
do have a major drawback: lacking the ability to electri-
0.8V to 1.2V, as suggested by our experimental data. As
cally recharge because Zinc is not easily oxidized. To
an outcome of this research paper, we will gain first in-
charge such a battery, the ions inside it have to be
sights on whether such a battery can be made at home,
changed, including the electrodes. It is definitely not a
how effective it is, and what can be done to enhance their
cheap alternative but certainly doable. Instead of search-
performance. The two electrolytes we tested are a NaCl
ing for a rechargeable method, I will focus on comparing
solution and a KOH solution.
different electrolytes ‒ In this case, a Sodium Chloride
Figure 1 shows the structure of the Cu-Zn battery
solution and a Potassium Hydroxide solution. A typi-
used in this research: a bridge insulates and suspends
cal battery of this kind utilizes the potential[2] differ-
stripes of Copper and Zinc, and hangs onto the rim of
ence between two different metals to produce electricity
a beaker. This diagram shows how simple it is to con-
through a built-up cell voltage. For instance, a setup with
struct a Cu-Zn cell, which is a great advantage.
Copper and Zinc electrodes should theoretically produce

Copyright © 2020 Jiaxuan Li

doi: 10.18282/ims.v3i3.359
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.

48 | Jiaxuan Li Insight - Material Science

 in Figure 2, is constructed with Copper and Zinc plates,
secured and insulated by a strut. In the first test, we used
the NaCl electrolyte. Upon activating the battery, we
observed the voltage produced by the setup, and recorded
the voltage reading over 5-minute intervals over the next
hour using the multimeter. To test the KOH electrolyte,
we cleaned the electrode and repeated the same steps as
we did for the NaCl electrolyte.

Note: We excluded the multimeter/voltmeter from the diagram

concerning simplicity and neatness of it. In our case, we con-
nected the positive lead to the Copper stripes and negative lead
to the Zinc stripes.

Figure 2 shows the electrode assembly. We used

three stripes of both Copper and Zinc to make a mul-
ti-layer electrode. By doing this we increased the total
energy output of the battery and thereby the battery life
(if ran on a constant load).
Note: Multiple thin layers of electrode material also increase
2. Experiment the surface area of electrodes, which is better compared to a
Our battery setup consists of a multimeter, a 500 single piece of metal of the same mass.
mL beaker and an electrode assembly. To make the elec-
trolytes, we dissolved 35 g of NaCl and 35 g of KOH
flakes with water to make a 500 mL NaCl solution and a
500 mL KOH solution. The electrode assembly, as shown

Figure 3. The experimental data of voltage produced by the cell versus time.

Insight - Material Science Volume 3 Issue 3 | 2020 | 49

3. Results & discussion of potential difference between Copper and Zinc. Be-
cause the same principle applies to other metals as well,
Our testing reveals that compared with simple table
we will be able to increase the voltage output of a single
salt, Potassium Hydroxide is the better electrolyte for a
cell if we find two metals with a greater potential differ-
Cu-Zn battery, as proved by the fact that the KOH elec-
ence and use them as the electrodes.
trolyte is able to produce a high average voltage ‒ 0.2
volts higher than what we measured from the NaCl setup. 4. Conclusion
Specific values are referenced in the chart above. Alt-
In this research we constructed a Cu-Zn battery to
hough performances of our battery under different elec-
test the hypothesis that it can be made with household
trolytes differ substantially, we noticed a similar trend in
materials and tools, and determined which of the two
voltage change over time for both setups: The cell ini-
electrolytes, KOH or NaCl, is the better choice for
tially produced a relatively low voltage, then gradually
the battery. Our result is successful, in that the voltage
increased and stabilized around a higher value.
our battery produced was as high as 1.17 volts. Addition-
We find that the initial voltage measured with the
ally, we confirmed that such a battery can be made from
simple salt electrolyte based on NaCl was 0.89 volts, and
common materials and household tools. In terms of per-
slowly rose to a steady 0.97 volts. This voltage stayed
formance, we determined that Potassium Hydroxide is a
nearly constant for the remaining duration of 40 minutes.
superior electrolyte for the Cu-Zn battery compared to
Similar to the NaCl cell, when Potassium Hydroxide was
NaCl; we think this is because the OH‒ ions in the KOH
used as the electrolyte, we measured an initial voltage of
solution are better at carrying charges and metal particles.
1.15 volts, which eventually increased to a stable 1.17
It is also a good thought to keep in mind when designing
volts 45 minutes after the cell was initialized. We specu-
a battery: when choosing electrolytes for a battery, those
late that the electrodes were initially covered in a thin
containing ions that can transport more charges per unit
layer of oxides, which hindered the efficiency of the re-
time might be worthy to consider. Since batteries are so
dox reaction[3] in our cell. Therefore, as the oxide layer
widely adopted in a variety of devices today, it is im-
slowly dissolved, we measured higher voltage readings.
portant that designers pick the correct electrolytes so that
Even though a maximum voltage of 1.17 volts was
the batteries they design can reach their full potential.
obtained with our Cu-Zn cell, many electrical applica-
tions require much higher voltage rating. To solve this References
issue, we simply need to connect multiple cells of this
type in series. The total voltage output linearly increases 1. Gkogkou D. A new solution to an old challenge:
Recharging Cu-Zn batteries [Internet]. Advanced
as a function of the number of cells in the series. In this Science News. Available from:
way, we can theoretically reach any voltage rating we https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/a-new-soluti
need just by changing the number of connected cells. on-to-an-old-challenge-recharging-cu-zn-batteries/.
2. Standard electrode potentials in aqueous solution at
Although this proposal will definitely work, the effi- 25 ℃ [Internet]. HyperPhysics. Available from:
ciency and lifetime of is likely to decrease as more cells http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Tables/el
are added, since we cannot electrically recharge the cells. ectpot.html#c1.
3. Redox reactions [Internet]. Washington University in
In addition to adding more cells in series, we can
St. Louis. Available from:
also change the electrode material to increase voltage. http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~coursedev/Online
The voltage measured from our Cu-Zn cell was the result %20tutorials/Redox.htm.

50 | Jiaxuan Li Insight - Material Science