1999 Volume 67 Issue 3 Pages 238-242
For alkaline batteries, it is important to investigate prospective materials with higher energy density and lower cost. We paid attention to the reaction of quinone compounds and investigated the electrochemical properties of these compounds in alkaline solution and discussed the possibility for a negative active material of alkaline secondary batteries. In alkaline solutioll, most of these materials, e.g. p-benzoquinone, dissolved, while only chloranilic acid (C6Cl2(OH)2O2) did not. We have found that chloranilic acid is the most possible candidate for the negative active materials of alkaline batteries because of its insolubility to alkaline solutions. There were three couples of peaks in cyclic voltammogram (−1.2〜−0.1V vs. Ag/AgCl) for the electrode of chloranilic acid. With cathodic scan of cyclic voltammogram on −0.8V vs. Ag/AgCl, the color of solution changed. It seems that this change is caused by the influence of dissolved products, which was formed by electrochemical redox reaction ofchlorallilic acid around −1.0V vs. Ag/AgCl. When the charge-discharge test was conducted in the potential range between −0.45V and −0.8V, no colored substance was formed in the solution and the discharge capacity reached to approximate150 mAhg−1 at the first cycle. From these results, on chloranilic acid, it was suggested that there was a possibility of application for a negative active material of alkaline secondary batteries.
