Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles as a cathode in Aluminium ion battery

Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles as a cathode in Aluminium ion battery | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles as a cathode in Aluminium ion battery Dhanus Kumar Bharathamani, Ravi Subban This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7263777/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aluminium–ion and aluminium–air batteries offer potential as cost-effective and sustainable energy storage systems, but their commercial application remains limited due to challenges such as aluminium anode self-corrosion, slow oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics, and the use of expensive catalysts. In this study, nitrogen-rich soybean carbon-coated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized and incorporated into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to form a cathode film. The composite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Elemental analysis revealed 4.68% nitrogen in the soybean carbon. XRD confirmed crystalline ZnO (peaks at 2θ = 31.84° to 61.2°) and hexagonal carbon structure (2θ ≈ 26.32°), with a particle size of 27.41 nm. SEM images showed nanofibrous morphology, and TGA indicated four-stage weight loss with 43.56% residue at 800 °C. The particle size and polydispersity index were 5432.236 nm and 0.1, respectively. Electrochemical behaviour was studied using cyclic voltammetry, and a prototype aluminium-ion battery was assembled. The battery powered a red LED for 86 hours continuously at 1.8 V with a 30 mA discharge current, achieving 54 mW power. Using 4.38 g aluminium anode and 1.45 g cathode material in 4 M KOH, the battery delivered a specific capacity of 326 mAh g⁻¹ and energy density of 3243 Wh kg⁻¹. This work demonstrates a promising bio-derived cathode approach for aluminium-based batteries Aluminium air battery Aluminium ion Battery Poly vinyl alcohol C-ZnO Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 1. Introduction Although consumer electronics market has been dominated by lithium-ion technology the scarcity, flammability and high-price of lithium lead to the exploration of an alternative energy storage system like metal-ion and metal-air batteries [ 1 – 3 ]. Al–air batteries being the desirable alternatives[ 4 – 9 ] still they could perform in the laboratory- scale only because of several setbacks, like self aluminium anode corrosion, sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and costlier catalysts. So attempts are to be made in order to overcome these critical setbacks existing in making Al–air batteries practically[ 10 ]. The slow and uneven ORR kinetics on cathode badly hits the performance of a battery. To address this while designing the cathodes numerous viable catalysts were explored, including precious metals and alloys, carbonaceous materials, macrocyclic metallic compounds, chalcogenides, oxides of transition metal, etc. [ 11 , 12 , 13 – 15 ]. Carbon-based materials are less expensive and friendly towards the environment, but the electrochemical performance is low and because of this they are normally used along with various elements acting as catalysts such as Ag, Co, Fe, Ni and metal-N–C composites [ 16 ]. Eventhough Pt has been considered as a better ORR catalyst, its usage is hampered due to limited resources, high cost and unsatisfactory durability. Also, Pt undergoes electrochemical and chemical dissolution during catalysis and considerable attention is required to overcome this problem. Hence for further progress, effective catalysts of non-precious metal types are highly required. Among various transition metal oxides like TiO 2 , ZnO, CeO 2 , etc., known for their environmentally friendly, corrosion resistance and outstanding chemical stability[ 17], Zinc oxide, is a wide bandgap n-type semiconductor and significantly has high electron mobility. Eventhen, It may be noted that ZnO has been rarely explored as an electrocatalyst. Recently ZnO@ZnO 2 catalyst was developed by the in situ growth of octahedra ZnO 2 on the crystal surface of ZnO (101) and reported to exhibit 100% selectivity towards production of H 2 O 2 during O 2 reduction[ 18 ]. In another study,DFT calculations and experimental tests confirmed that Zn atoms present in the heterogeneous interface behave as active sites that lower the binding energies of *OOH and *O, and promotes excellent two-electron ORR activity[ 19 ]. Also it was reported that besides single transition metal catalysts, doping with heteroatoms or other transition metals is also a very effective tuning method[ 20 ]. The synergetic effect between ZnO and heteroatoms/transition metals can increase the electron transfer kinetics to improve ORR performance. The improved kinetics result in higher cathodic current density and a more positive onset potential for ORR in alkaline media. Further Yu et al. reported nanoparticles of ZnO oxides dispersed on reduced graphene oxides (rGO) favoured [ 14 – 16 ] a 4-electron pathway mechanism from O 2 to H 2 O.[ 21 , 22 ] and exhibited superior performance when compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst. When ZnO is used as an electrocatalyst, during discharge, zinc will react with hydroxyl ions from the electrolyte KOH to form zincate ions, releasing electrons. These zincate ions are expected to travel through the electrolyte to the cathode, where oxygen reduction occurs and thereby it may improve the performance of batteries like cycle life and power density. Also zinc oxide can also lead to the formation of passivation layers, which are primarily composed of Zn(OH)₂, and can control the faster electrochemical reactions at the anode. Aluminate ions (AlO 2 ⁻), which are formed when aluminium dissolves in a basic solution (like KOH), react with zincate ions to form a complex. Zincate ions help to inhibit the formation of an insulating Al 2 O 3 layer on the aluminum anode, which can prevent degradation in Aluminium ion batteries. Taking into account the relatively low electroconductivity of ZnO, it becomes necessary to combine with carbon layers to facilitate its oxygen reduction catalytic process where ZnO is supported on carbon or vice versa interact in various ways and leads to a synergistic effect. The interaction depends on the type of carbon, its synthetic method, and the reaction conditions[ 23 ]. It is to be noted that carbon materials, especially when doped with nitrogen posses unique physical and chemical properties, enhances the electrical conductivity of the electrocatalyst and facilitates electron transfer during the reaction. However, complex nitrogen doping methods and high cost limit their practical applications. Carbon materials, derived from biomass sources, offer a sustainable and readily available alternative to traditional cathode materials. Biomass resources are renewable and abundant, making them a sustainable alternative to traditional carbon sources. Biomass-derived carbon materials exhibit good electrical conductivity and can be tailored to improve the catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Biomass richer in proteins consists of more amounts of nitrogen containing amino acids and can provide considerable quantity of hetero atoms [ 20 ]. In the present work a simplified and cost-effective, battery was made using a foil of aluminium as an anode, absorbed glass mat (AGM) separator and nitrogen rich soybean carbon coated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) nanoparticles doped Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) films as an air-cathode. Since soybean is rich in nitrogen, it does not need to introduce additional nitrogen sources as a carbon precursor, and it is a renewable resource and cheap. Further utilizing soybeans for self-doping proves to be environmentally friendly[e]. The performance of the cathode material in an aluminium ion battery was investigated. Six batteries put together in series mode provided the necessary voltage to light small device such as a light-emitting diode (LEDs). A a minimum of 1.5–3V is required to power the LEDs. The stability of the battery was monitored continuously and reported. In the literature similar reports were unknown to the extent of our knowledge. 2. Experimental Details Materials Used Zinc Nitrate hexahydrate, and PVA of average molecular weight of 124,000 (86–89% hydrolysed) were procured from M/s Precision chemicals, Coimbatore, India. Soya bean was obtained from the local Department store, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, and AGM Separator was from RNGN batteries private limited, Mysore, Karnataka, India 2.1 The preparation of soybean‐based carbon materials: Soybeans obtained from the local market were initially desiccated at 100 °C and made in to a powder and subjected to heating by increasing the temperature to 500°C at the rate of 5°C/ min. At this temperature it was maintained for 2 h in nitrogen atmosphere. It was cooled and the resulted material was ground into a powder. This was mixed with an activation agent zinc chloride (1:3 mass ratio), and heated to 650°C, temperature for 2 h. Finally, it was washed several times, dried at 130°C for 3 h, to yield the final final carbon materials. 2.2 Preparation of carbon coated ZnO Gel combustion method was followed for the synthesis of C-ZnO. 14.9 g of Zinc nitrate and 5.4 g of activated carbon were carefully weighed and dissolved in 125 ml of distilled water and the carbon to nitrate ratio (mole ratio) of 0.156 was maintained in the reaction mixture. The reaction mixture was heated by means of a hot plate and nitrates were released to form a gel and within few seconds it forms a fine powder. The resulted metal oxide was pyrolyzed at 600 0 C to yield the nanofiller which was then characterized by TGA, XRD and SEM studies. 2Zn(NO 3 ) 2 + 12C + 12H 2 O ↔ 2ZnO + 7C + 2N 2 + 5CO 2 + 12H 2 O …..(1) Below 300 °C three reactions are taking place dehydration, followed by dehydrogenation and decomposition of carbon and in this process, the ZnO particles surface is covered by a carbon layer and makes the surface less polar. It is reported that 4–5% mass of residual carbon may stay as such after the pyrolysis of carbon in an inert atmosphere. For the preparation of nano composite PVA/C-ZnO films particles of carbon coated zinc oxide having a size of 25 nm was used. 2.3 Fabrication of PVA/C-ZnO nano composite films By solution casting method nanocomposite films of PVA/C-ZnO were prepared. Films were made from the aqueous suspension of C-ZnO and PVA which were mixed together at 95 °C in a water bath for 3h under stirring. The solid content of the aqueous suspension was maintained at 7.5 % (w/v) solution and the solution was homogenised using ultra-sonication for 30 min at 80–90 °C. The films without air bubbles is to be casted and C-ZnO particles are to be uniformly dispersed in PVA matrix, dried for 3 days at room temperature. Then the films were annealed at 60 °C for about 2 h. Samples of 0.2 to 0.3 mm thickness and 50 mm diameter were used for characterization. 2.4 Al-Air Battery Design The aluminium-air battery was designed as in Fig.1 and the design patent was granted to us[Patent No:Indian Design patent No: 404551-001]. An acrylic-based material of 1.5 x 7.2 x 10 cm dimension acts as an enclosure of the battery because of its inert properties. A hole was drilled with 9 mm diameter to a height of 6 cm. It consists of an anode (aluminium foil, 0.75g) in the bottom of the hole, separator (0.15 g; absorbed glass mat (AGM) in the middle and an air cathode C-MgO particle in PVA matrix (0.5 g) at the top. Potassium hydroxide (KOH, 4M, 1 ml) was used as the electrolyte and added into the system from the top side of the hole. Six batteries were put together in series fashion, so that the first battery’s anode was connected to the LED to be lighted and the cathode in the same battery was made to connect with the second battery’s anode by means of a copper wire. The 2nd battery’s cathode was joined to the the 3rd battery’s anode using the copper wire as well. Similarly, al the batteries were connected and the last battery’s cathode was made to connect to the LED to be lighted. To determine the performance, the battery was discharged under a constant current. All tests were determined in triplicate at 25 °C to arrive at an average value. 2.5 Electrochemical Measurement To analyse the performance of the battery, an electrochemical workstation with model No. ZIVE SP1 was used. Cyclic analysis and charge and discharge experiments were carried out under the following conditions Current in the Cathodic (A) = 0.01, Current in the Anodic (A) = 0.01, Init P/N = N, time interval for Data Storage (s) = 0.1, High E Limit (V) = 1.6, Lower E Limit (V) = 0, Cathodic Time (s) = 10, Anodic Time (s) = 10 using a cyclic voltameter Instrument Model: CHI660E. Acrylic-based material being inert in nature will not affect the reactions taking place in the aluminium-ion battery and hence used as a outer cover to enclose the battery. The area available for the reaction in the battery is about 2.5 cm × 7.5 cm. The anode and the cathode were connected with copper wires which are used to connect with the external circuits. Potassium hydroxide (NaOH, 4M) served as an electrolyte and into the separator it is injected. 3. Result and discussion The Elemental analysis of soybeans C, H, O, N, and S elements content were 45.92%, 10.34%, 37.54%, 5.71%, and 0.49%, respectively. In the final form the nitrogen content is 4.68% because of the elimination of few nitrogen components in the process of carbonization and activation. The prepared PVA/C-ZnO nanocomposite film was analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, SEM, FTIR, and TGA to determine its structural and electrochemical properties. The battery was discharged using a red LED bulb to study the efficiency of the battery. When it was discharged at 20 milliamps current got stabilised at 1.8 V for 61 hours. 3.1 X-Ray Diffraction analysis of C-ZnO XRD analysis (Fig.2.) revealed that the ZnO cathode exhibited a well-defined crystalline structure with diffraction peaks matching the standard ZnO pattern, confirming the successful synthesis of ZnO. The position of the peaks at 2θ = 31.84°, 33.91°, 35.62°, 44.23°, 56.45°, 61.2°, were due to the reflections from (1 0 0), (0 0 2), (1 0 1), (1 0 2), (1 1 0), (1 0 3), planes respectively. ZnO is found to exhibit a fine crystalline structure as evident from the sharper and stronger diffraction peaks. The strong crystalline reflections in the XRD pattern around 2θ = 16.51 ° and a shoulder at 21.68 ° are attributed to the pure PVA membranes representing the reflections from (110) and (112) of a monoclinic unit cell. Also the peak observed at 2θ ∼ 26.32 ° is due to the (002) reflection of hexagonal crystal structure of soybean carbon and the size of the particles was calculated by Scherrer's formula and found to be 27.41 nm as shown in Table 1. Earlier reports also stated the similar diffraction peaks for ZnO and soybean carbon [24,25]. Table 1. XRD Parameters for synthesized C-MgO Nano Composite XRD Parameters Formula C-MgO Debye Scherrer D=0.9λ/βCosθ 27.41nm W-H Plot D=0.9λ/C 17.03nm 3.2 SEM analysis of C-ZnO In the PVA matrix the nanoparticles of C - ZnO were dispersed. The surface properties and the size in terms of diameter of the nanofiber of PVA/C-ZnO fibers were investigated. In the images, a continuous homogeneous morphologies were seen along with some bead like structures here and there due to ZnO NP-loaded patches. The agglomeration is found to be very less and these homogeneous and smooth morphologies formed a porous network which can allow the diffusion of nutrients and oxygen to the linked cells. The diameters of all fibers were measured and found to be 100 nm. However, it is significant to observe that the presence of some agglomerates or clusters can affect the effective size and distribution of the nanoparticles in the composite material. 3.3 Thermo gravimetric Analysis of C-ZnO Composite The thermal stability of the composite and the C-ZnO contents in the final composites were determined by TGA and was carried out from room temperature to 800 °C. It exhibited 5 stages for weight loss (Fig.4). In the beginning a weight loss of 27.33% was observed between 100 and 166.2 °C due to the evaporation of molecules of water present in the composites. In the subsequent two steps the weight loss is due to the desorption of physically absorbed molecules wherein the polymeric molecules are binded on the surface by means of van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. The fourth major stage from 240 to 402 °C is due to the decomposition of the side chain of the PVA. The weight percentage of the remaining residue at 799.5 °C was 43.56 %. 3.4 Optimization of Nanoparticles Size The average particle size of C-ZnO, its distribution and polydispersity index were determined using a “Zetasizer” dynamic light scattering phenomenon[26]. Assuming the particle shapes are spherical and considering the Stokes Einstein Equation, the intensity of light scattered by the particles were used to determine the mean hydrodynamic diameter (Z – Avg Mean). 5 different measurements were made for the sample to calculate the standard deviation and data average. Particle size and polydispersity were found to be 5432.236 nm and 1 respectively. 3.5 Discharge study in an Al-Air Battery The aluminium foil 5 cm × 5 cm size was also cut into smaller pieces and kept at the bottom of a cylindrical tube. Absorbed glass mat (AGM)) separator was placed over it. Above this space 0.6 g of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film doped with 2.0 wt. % of the nanoparticles which consists of carbon coated Zinc oxide (C-ZnO) was taken to serve as an air cathode. A good contact between the separator and the air cathode was ensured. Potassium hydroxide (KOH, 4M) is the electrolyte used. The parasitic reaction in the anode was controlled by using limited quantity of electrolyte in the battery and recirculation of bulky electrolytes was also avoided[27]. Since LEDs require a minimum of 1.5–3V to be lighted, in the present work six batteries were put together and connected in a series inorder to supply the necessary voltage to light the LED. As expected from a series conection of batteries, the voltage was additive and to begin with it yielded 3.6 V which is sufficient to use LEDs over a broad range of wavelengths. Six such batteries were made and the batteries are connected in series to make a pack of batteries having an open circuit voltage of 3.6 V. The battery pack was connected to LED lights to glow and the battery was discharged under a constant current. This type of battery is found to be fit to use in miniature applications. A red LED bulb which handles 20 milliamps current when connected to the above Al-air battery back initially the from 3.6 V it falls down to 1.8 V and it got stabilised at the same voltage with a gradual decrease in voltage for 86 hours (Fig.5) before it attains a voltage of 1.6 V. The battery got stabilised and the reactions are under total control. Further to study the capacity of the battery, it was discharged continuously till the battery voltage dropped to 0 V. However, to the best of our knowledge similar reports in the literature was unknown. 3.6 Electrochemical Performance Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) in KOH (4M) solution was used to observe electrochemical characteristics of electrodes coated with C-ZnO nanoparticles. The standard three electrode system seen in electrochemical workstations consists of a working electrode (PVA/C-ZnO) and aluminium as a counter electrode as well as the reference electrode. Using the linear sweep voltammetry the batteries polarization curve was obtained. A scan rate of 5 mV s −1 was employed to sweep the open-circuit voltage to 0 V of the battery. Initially the discharge and charging experiments of the cell was conducted at 100mA g -1 to analyse the electrochemical behaviour of the battery keeping the voltage window starting from 1.4 V to 2.2 V (Fig.6). We observed an oxidation peak in the 1.25 V and at 1.44 V and two reduction peaks at the positions of 0.9 V and 0.48 V. All the curves are almost identical, which indicate that the reversibility of the battery is excellent. More importantly linear rise in redox current peaks with an increase in the potential hints to the process in charge transfer at the interface owing to the redox effects and a rapid increase in the rate of mobility in electrons and ions. During the negative sweep the respective reduction events of these processes, were correlated with the galvanostatic charge-discharge curve for the battery. The redox processes appeared to be largely reversible but seems to be kinetically hindered, by exhibiting relatively wide peaks. The potential window is limited to 1.8V due to the degradation of the electrolyte above it. Fig 7. shows the corresponding CV curves, performed between 0 to 1.8V and under 5 to 100mV S -1 scan rates. It yielded good cyclic stability. At lower voltages the curve confirms that during the electrochemical process there are no more redox peaks. The variation in the relative redox peaks intensities suggests a variation in the desired mechanism. Peaks of this type can be attributed to the insertion processes and disinfection processes which are occurring in the interlayer space [28]. We observed an oxidation peak in the 1.25 V and at 1.44 V and two reduction peaks at the positions of 0.9 V and 0.48 V. All the curves are almost identical, which indicate that the reversibility of the battery is excellent. The CV curves showed clear cathodic and anodic peaks, indicating that the ZnO cathode was electrochemically active in the chosen electrolyte. The cathodic peak observed at around -0.45 V vs. Al can be attributed to the reduction of ZnO to Zinc metal (Zn) and oxygen (O 2 ), while the anodic peak at around -0.1 V vs. Al can be attributed to the oxidation of Zn to ZnO. The peak potentials and shapes of the CV curves suggest that the ZnO cathode exhibited good reversibility and stability during repeated electrochemical cycling. Oxidation: Zn---------------Zn 2+ + 2e -1 …….(2) Zn 2+ -------------Zn 3+ + e -1 ……..(3) Reduction : Zn 3+ + e -1 ---------- Zn 2+ ………..(4) Zn 2+ + 2e -1 -------------Zn………(5) The carbon coated ZnO probably accelerate the cathodic reaction. Voltage profiles of the aluminium-ion battery during galvanostatic cycling at 4 to 10 mA discharge currents were displayed in Fig 8. It lasted for 76 min before the battery dried out. From Fig 11, it is evident that the duration of discharge and discharge current are inversely proportional to each other. When we increased the discharge current from 4 mA to 10 mA the discharge time was less. The reduction of battery voltage during the discharge process is due to the consumption of hydroxyl and aluminium ions. Once both the ions are consumed the battery may not be in a position to deliver the required discharge current and the battery voltage dropped to 0V. It was observed that during the discharge of the battery, if high current is used, it lead to a faster drop of battery voltage[29]. From the above results, it is visible that a small current load from a aluminium-air battery could produce higher cell voltage initially and will also have a longer period of discharge when compared to current loads with high discharge. In other words, quick consumption of the hydroxyl and aluminium ions present in the battery causes a sudden decrease in the voltage of the battery. Therefore, it indicates that by increasing the amount of electrolyte or the size of the aluminium anode, one can further improve the battery capacity in order to extend the discharge period. In line with the above in this study we have proposed a cost saving aluminium-air battery. A test to exhaust the battery was conducted to to find out its lifetime by connecting to a LED bulb which can draw 30 mA of current and the OCV was monitored continuously to observe the change in voltage. we also reported the device composition, like the cathodic material C-ZnO as the catalyst, the electrode dimensions, and the potential use in minor applications. In order to power small devices we have connected the batteries in series, however, it is important to note that high power is required. A maximum current of 30 mA and power of 54 mW was achieved with a battery that has 4.38g of anode material and 1.45 g of cathode material with 4M KOH. Being done in a real time application mode, to the best of our knowledge similar reports in the literature was unknown. Six batteries in a series configuration produced a voltage of 3.6 V and was used to power a LED device and showed a discharge current of 30mA a specific capacity of 326mAhg −1 and an energy density of 3243 Wh kg −1 . Work is in progress for making the batteries more user-friendly and this could be a prototype for further alterations. It was reported in the literature that carbon containing heteroatom will have high surface area and exhibit higher capacitance when compared to the carbon without heteroatoms. Since we used nitrogen heteroatom richer soybean carbon, a biomass-derived carbon posses unique surface properties and has served better in the form of a battery for energy storage applications. Unlike external doping, since our process is a self-doping of heteroatoms process, it doesn't required additional steps for processing and/or use of harmful chemicals. Also soybean is a renewable resource it is cheap, and proves to be environmentally friendly[30]. Another aspect in our study is ZnO serves as a electrocatalyst and electrochemical studies using CV where all the curves are almost identical indicated that the reversibility of the battery is excellent[31-34]. Hence, Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles may serve as a better cathode in Aluminium ion and aluminium air batteries. 4. Conclusion Films of Polyvinyl alcohol doped with nanoparticles of soybean carbon coated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) was made as a cathode and characterised by XRD analysis, SEM images, FTIR spectra and TGA analysis. It yielded good cyclic stability in CV analysis when evaluated by means of an electrochemical workstation. A prototype aluminium ion battery was constructed and on discharge of this battery using a red LED bulb which handles 30 mA current got stabilised at 1.8 V for 86 hours. It was found to be acceptable to use in miniature applications. Also with a OCV of 3.6 Vpower of 54 mW was achieved with a battery that has 4.38g of anode material and 1.45 g of cathode material with 4M KOH with a specific capacity of 326 mAhg − 1 and an energy density of 3243 Wh kg − 1 . Being done in a real time application mode, to the best of our knowledge similar reports in the literature was unknown. Although work is in progress in our laboratory to make the batteries more user-friendly and compact, the battery proposed in the present work could act as a prototype with small modifications. Declarations Acknowledgement The authors thank the Centre of Material Chemistry Centre and Centre of Food and Nanotechnology, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education for using their Instrument facility. Conflict of interest The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest. Research Data Policy Not applicable Author Contribution BDK: Took part in methodology, writing, original draft. SR: Took part in investigation, formal analysis, review & editing and supervision. 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ACS Catal. 5:4325–4332 Arthi Gopalakrishnan, Sushmee Badhulika, (2020) Effect of self-doped heteroatoms on the performance of biomass-derived carbon for supercapacitor applications,, Journal of Power Sources 480:23:228830, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228830 Denian Li, Jizhang Yang, Yue Zhao, Haoran Yuan, Yong Chen,,(2022) Ultra-highly porous carbon from Wasted soybean residue with tailored porosity and doped structure as renewable multi-purpose absorbent for efficient CO2, toluene and water vapor capture, Journal of Cleaner Production, 337:130283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130283 . Faxing Wang, Feng Yu, Xiaowei Wang, Zheng Chang, Lijun Fu, Yusong Zhu, Zubiao Wen, Yuping Wu, and Wei Huang, (2016) Aqueous Rechargeable Zinc/Aluminum Ion Battery with Good Cycling Performance, ACS Applied Materials & interfaces 8:14:9022–9029. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b06142 Pengyu Meng, Zhaohui Yang, Jiao Zhang, Min Jiang, Yibo Wang, Xinlong Zhang, Jiayan Luo, Chaopeng Fu, (2023) Electrolyte design for rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries: Recent advances and challenges, Energy Storage Materials, 63:102953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2023.102953 . Yuqi Guo, Dr. Gwendolyn J. H. Lim, Dr. Vivek Verma, Dr. Yi Cai, Dr. Rodney Chua, J. J. Nicholas Lim, Prof. Madhavi Srinivasan, (2024) Solid State Zinc and Aluminum ion batteries: Challenges and Opportunities, ChemSusChem, 18:3. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202202297 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 28 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 21 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 19 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 04 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 31 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7263777","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504834445,"identity":"85ae19a4-3835-4ae3-9d52-e05fb4c42df1","order_by":0,"name":"Dhanus Kumar Bharathamani","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Karpagam Academy of Higher Education","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dhanus","middleName":"Kumar","lastName":"Bharathamani","suffix":""},{"id":504834446,"identity":"3fc35186-fbb2-4f59-9490-114c87fac32f","order_by":1,"name":"Ravi Subban","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHjYIzcx+4MAHIM3GTrwWnsSDM0BamInWwsBgfJgHrJeABvkZucce/NxxT97gOEPCYZtf2+T5mBkYP3zMwa3F4EZeumHvmWLDDYcZDxzO7btt2MbMwCw5cxseLRI5ZhK8bQmMM5uBtuT23GYEamFj5sWjRX5Gjpnk37YEe6AWg8OWPbftCWphuJFjJg20JbGfGaiF4cftRIJaDM68SzeWbUtI7mfmSTjY23A7uY2ZsRmvX+Tbc489fNuWYNvGf/zwhx9/btvOb28++OEjPoehAMY2MNlArHoQ+EOK4lEwCkbBKBgpAAAfLVEOTRikFAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Karpagam Academy of Higher Education","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ravi","middleName":"","lastName":"Subban","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-31 15:23:25","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7263777/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7263777/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90300864,"identity":"76744500-8258-48fa-ba44-15939c909796","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 08:55:31","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":241621,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSchematic representation for Preparing Carbon film\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/4b7d1985b0eafc3089443e6e.png"},{"id":90300866,"identity":"91d64237-0374-43e5-b8b7-ae4656f1715c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 08:55:31","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":424271,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) represent the XRD pattern of C-ZnO and (b) represent the WH-plot of C-ZnO\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/b674ff08d7680fc4883d6059.png"},{"id":90300871,"identity":"b57a01e5-ade6-4239-a2eb-80f9d6402c91","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 08:55:31","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":243300,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSEM of C –ZnO Nanocomposites\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/5f422969cbc528197447f820.png"},{"id":90300872,"identity":"9424a5ee-0743-4321-bceb-0b9c175c3635","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 08:55:31","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":649326,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTGA of C –ZnO nanocomposites\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/ba6fa731f4d16b07ee2940cd.png"},{"id":90300883,"identity":"5f590bb3-a6d4-4a25-a35c-eb48ade40a72","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 08:55:32","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":37092,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDischarge study of the aluminium air battery\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/f42c9b054409788ca17eac82.png"},{"id":90300878,"identity":"0b51e130-ed51-4ec3-a0bf-d43324c5cdaa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 08:55:31","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":366039,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDifferent Potential 100mA g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e with a voltage window ranging from 1.4 V to 2.2 V\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/c3afd407d9aec42608be56ed.png"},{"id":90301958,"identity":"3771e46c-f48f-43ab-9f7a-6fdabe5c2cc5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 09:03:32","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":397188,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eScan rate performed between -0.2 to 1.8V and under 5 to 100mV S\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/d82ef4d0ad19171895cb04ec.png"},{"id":90301939,"identity":"b6d2d4d8-e92c-4c89-a2c9-89d3166137ed","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 09:03:31","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":189420,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eGalvanostatic Charge discharge (GCD) studies obtained the product a C-ZnO in 500 cycles\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/9d1b46dbb8da1f0a31705a6c.png"},{"id":90304221,"identity":"0358763c-5af3-4c48-add9-3180d6014915","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 09:11:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2559258,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7263777/v1/62c4e425-0c38-49d7-bbd2-2621d88bf80b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles as a cathode in Aluminium ion battery","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eAlthough consumer electronics market has been dominated by lithium-ion technology the scarcity, flammability and high-price of lithium lead to the exploration of an alternative energy storage system like metal-ion and metal-air batteries [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR2\" citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. Al\u0026ndash;air batteries being the desirable alternatives[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR5 CR6 CR7 CR8\" citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e] still they could perform in the laboratory- scale only because of several setbacks, like self aluminium anode corrosion, sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and costlier catalysts. So attempts are to be made in order to overcome these critical setbacks existing in making Al\u0026ndash;air batteries practically[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. The slow and uneven ORR kinetics on cathode badly hits the performance of a battery. To address this while designing the cathodes numerous viable catalysts were explored, including precious metals and alloys, carbonaceous materials, macrocyclic metallic compounds, chalcogenides, oxides of transition metal, etc. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR14\" citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e]. Carbon-based materials are less expensive and friendly towards the environment, but the electrochemical performance is low and because of this they are normally used along with various elements acting as catalysts such as Ag, Co, Fe, Ni and metal-N\u0026ndash;C composites [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]. Eventhough Pt has been considered as a better ORR catalyst, its usage is hampered due to limited resources, high cost and unsatisfactory durability. Also, Pt undergoes electrochemical and chemical dissolution during catalysis and considerable attention is required to overcome this problem. Hence for further progress, effective catalysts of non-precious metal types are highly required.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmong various transition metal oxides like TiO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, ZnO, CeO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, etc., known for their environmentally friendly, corrosion resistance and outstanding chemical stability[ 17], Zinc oxide, is a wide bandgap n-type semiconductor and significantly has high electron mobility. Eventhen, It may be noted that ZnO has been rarely explored as an electrocatalyst.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecently ZnO@ZnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e catalyst was developed by the in situ growth of octahedra ZnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e on the crystal surface of ZnO (101) and reported to exhibit 100% selectivity towards production of H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e during O\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e reduction[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]. In another study,DFT calculations and experimental tests confirmed that Zn atoms present in the heterogeneous interface behave as active sites that lower the binding energies of *OOH and *O, and promotes excellent two-electron ORR activity[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]. Also it was reported that besides single transition metal catalysts, doping with heteroatoms or other transition metals is also a very effective tuning method[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]. The synergetic effect between ZnO and heteroatoms/transition metals can increase the electron transfer kinetics to improve ORR performance. The improved kinetics result in higher cathodic current density and a more positive onset potential for ORR in alkaline media. Further Yu et al. reported nanoparticles of ZnO oxides dispersed on reduced graphene oxides (rGO) favoured [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR15\" citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e] a 4-electron pathway mechanism from O\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e to H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e] and exhibited superior performance when compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen ZnO is used as an electrocatalyst, during discharge, zinc will react with hydroxyl ions from the electrolyte KOH to form zincate ions, releasing electrons. These zincate ions are expected to travel through the electrolyte to the cathode, where oxygen reduction occurs and thereby it may improve the performance of batteries like cycle life and power density. Also zinc oxide can also lead to the formation of passivation layers, which are primarily composed of Zn(OH)₂, and can control the faster electrochemical reactions at the anode. Aluminate ions (AlO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e⁻), which are formed when aluminium dissolves in a basic solution (like KOH), react with zincate ions to form a complex. Zincate ions help to inhibit the formation of an insulating Al\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e layer on the aluminum anode, which can prevent degradation in Aluminium ion batteries.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaking into account the relatively low electroconductivity of ZnO, it becomes necessary to combine with carbon layers to facilitate its oxygen reduction catalytic process where ZnO is supported on carbon or vice versa interact in various ways and leads to a synergistic effect. The interaction depends on the type of carbon, its synthetic method, and the reaction conditions[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. It is to be noted that carbon materials, especially when doped with nitrogen posses unique physical and chemical properties, enhances the electrical conductivity of the electrocatalyst and facilitates electron transfer during the reaction. However, complex nitrogen doping methods and high cost limit their practical applications. Carbon materials, derived from biomass sources, offer a sustainable and readily available alternative to traditional cathode materials. Biomass resources are renewable and abundant, making them a sustainable alternative to traditional carbon sources. Biomass-derived carbon materials exhibit good electrical conductivity and can be tailored to improve the catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Biomass richer in proteins consists of more amounts of nitrogen containing amino acids and can provide considerable quantity of hetero atoms [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the present work a simplified and cost-effective, battery was made using a foil of aluminium as an anode, absorbed glass mat (AGM) separator and nitrogen rich soybean carbon coated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) nanoparticles doped Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) films as an air-cathode. Since soybean is rich in nitrogen, it does not need to introduce additional nitrogen sources as a carbon precursor, and it is a renewable resource and cheap. Further utilizing soybeans for self-doping proves to be environmentally friendly[e]. The performance of the cathode material in an aluminium ion battery was investigated. Six batteries put together in series mode provided the necessary voltage to light small device such as a light-emitting diode (LEDs). A a minimum of 1.5\u0026ndash;3V is required to power the LEDs. The stability of the battery was monitored continuously and reported. In the literature similar reports were unknown to the extent of our knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2.\tExperimental Details","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMaterials Used\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZinc Nitrate hexahydrate, and PVA of average molecular weight of 124,000 (86–89% hydrolysed) were procured from M/s Precision chemicals, Coimbatore, India. \u0026nbsp;Soya bean was obtained from the local Department store, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, and AGM Separator was from \u0026nbsp;RNGN batteries private limited, Mysore, Karnataka, India \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.1 The preparation of soybean‐based carbon materials:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoybeans obtained from the local market were initially\u0026nbsp;desiccated at 100\u0026nbsp;°C and made in\u0026nbsp;to a powder and subjected to heating by increasing the temperature to 500°C at the rate of 5°C/ min. At this temperature it was maintained for 2 h \u0026nbsp;in nitrogen atmosphere. It was cooled and the resulted material \u0026nbsp;was ground into a powder. This was mixed with an activation agent zinc chloride (1:3 mass ratio), and heated to \u0026nbsp; 650°C, temperature for 2 h. Finally, \u0026nbsp;it was washed several times, \u0026nbsp; dried at 130°C for 3 h, \u0026nbsp;to yield the final final carbon materials.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.2 Preparation of carbon coated ZnO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGel combustion method was followed for the synthesis of C-ZnO. 14.9 g of Zinc \u0026nbsp;nitrate and 5.4 g of activated carbon were carefully weighed and dissolved in 125 ml of distilled water and the carbon to nitrate ratio (mole ratio) of 0.156 was maintained in the reaction mixture. The reaction mixture was heated by means of a hot plate and nitrates were released to form a gel and within few seconds it forms a fine powder. The resulted metal oxide was pyrolyzed at 600 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC to yield the nanofiller which was then characterized by TGA, XRD and SEM studies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2Zn(NO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003csub\u003e2\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003e + 12C \u0026nbsp; + 12H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO \u0026nbsp;↔ \u0026nbsp;2ZnO + \u0026nbsp;7C + 2N\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026nbsp; + \u0026nbsp; 5CO\u003csub\u003e2\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003e + \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;12H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO …..(1)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelow 300 °C three reactions are taking place dehydration, followed by dehydrogenation and decomposition of carbon and in this process, the ZnO particles surface is covered by a carbon layer and makes the surface less polar. It is reported that 4–5% mass of residual carbon may stay as such after the pyrolysis of carbon in an inert atmosphere. For the preparation of nano composite PVA/C-ZnO films particles of carbon coated zinc oxide having a size of 25 nm was used.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.3 Fabrication of PVA/C-ZnO nano composite films\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy solution casting method nanocomposite films of PVA/C-ZnO were prepared. Films were made from the aqueous suspension of C-ZnO and PVA \u0026nbsp;which were mixed together at 95 °C in a water bath for 3h under stirring. \u0026nbsp;The solid content of the aqueous suspension was maintained at 7.5 % (w/v) solution and the solution was homogenised using ultra-sonication for 30 min at 80–90 °C. The films without air bubbles is to be casted and C-ZnO particles are to be uniformly dispersed in PVA matrix, dried for 3 days at room temperature. Then the films were annealed at 60 °C for about 2 h. Samples of 0.2 to 0.3 mm thickness and 50 mm diameter were used for characterization.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.4 Al-Air Battery Design\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe aluminium-air battery was designed as in Fig.1 and the design patent was granted to us[Patent No:Indian Design patent No: 404551-001]. An acrylic-based material of 1.5 x 7.2 x 10 cm dimension acts as an enclosure of the battery because of its inert properties. \u0026nbsp;A hole was drilled with 9 mm diameter to a height of 6 cm. It consists of an anode (aluminium foil, 0.75g) in the bottom\u0026nbsp;of the\u0026nbsp;hole, separator (0.15 g; absorbed glass mat (AGM) in the middle and an air cathode C-MgO particle\u0026nbsp;in\u0026nbsp;PVA matrix (0.5 g) at the top. Potassium hydroxide (KOH, 4M, 1 ml) was used as the electrolyte and added into the system from the top side of the hole. \u0026nbsp;Six batteries were put together in series fashion, so that the first battery’s \u0026nbsp;anode was connected to the LED \u0026nbsp;to be lighted and the cathode in the same battery \u0026nbsp;was made to connect with the \u0026nbsp;second battery’s \u0026nbsp;anode by means of a copper wire. \u0026nbsp;The 2nd battery’s cathode \u0026nbsp;was joined to the the 3rd battery’s anode \u0026nbsp;using the copper wire as well. Similarly, al the batteries were connected and the last battery’s cathode \u0026nbsp;was made to connect to the LED to be lighted. To determine the performance, the battery was discharged under a constant current. \u0026nbsp;All tests were determined in triplicate at 25 °C to arrive at an average value.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;2.5 Electrochemical Measurement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo analyse the performance of the battery, an electrochemical workstation \u0026nbsp;with model No. ZIVE SP1 was used. \u0026nbsp;Cyclic analysis and charge and discharge experiments were carried out under the following conditions Current in the Cathodic (A) = 0.01, Current \u0026nbsp;in the Anodic (A) = 0.01, Init P/N = N, \u0026nbsp;time interval for Data Storage (s) = 0.1, High E Limit (V) = 1.6, Lower \u0026nbsp;E Limit (V) = 0, Cathodic Time (s) = 10, Anodic Time (s) = 10 using a cyclic voltameter Instrument Model: \u0026nbsp;CHI660E.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcrylic-based material being inert in nature will not affect the reactions taking place in the aluminium-ion battery and hence used as a outer cover to enclose the battery. \u0026nbsp;The area available for the reaction in the battery is about 2.5 cm × 7.5 cm. \u0026nbsp; The anode and the cathode were connected with copper wires which are used to connect with the external circuits. Potassium hydroxide (NaOH, 4M) served as an electrolyte and into the separator it is \u0026nbsp;injected. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Result and discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe Elemental analysis of soybeans \u0026nbsp;C, H, O, N, and S elements content were 45.92%, 10.34%, 37.54%, 5.71%, and 0.49%, respectively. In the final form the nitrogen content is 4.68% \u0026nbsp;because of the elimination \u0026nbsp;of few nitrogen components in the process of \u0026nbsp;carbonization and activation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe prepared PVA/C-ZnO nanocomposite film was analysed by \u0026nbsp;X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, SEM, FTIR, and TGA to determine its structural and electrochemical properties. The battery was discharged using a red LED bulb to study the efficiency of the battery. When it was discharged at 20 milliamps current got stabilised at 1.8 V for 61 hours.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eX-Ray Diffraction analysis of C-ZnO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eXRD analysis (Fig.2.) revealed that the ZnO cathode exhibited a well-defined crystalline structure with diffraction peaks matching the standard ZnO pattern, confirming the successful synthesis of ZnO. The position of the peaks at 2\u0026theta; = 31.84\u0026deg;, 33.91\u0026deg;, 35.62\u0026deg;, 44.23\u0026deg;, 56.45\u0026deg;, 61.2\u0026deg;, were due to the reflections from (1 0 0), (0 0 2), (1 0 1), (1 0 2), (1 1 0), (1 0 3), planes respectively. ZnO is found to exhibit a fine crystalline structure as evident from the sharper and stronger diffraction peaks. The strong crystalline reflections in the XRD pattern around 2\u0026theta; = 16.51 \u0026deg; and a shoulder at 21.68 \u0026deg; are attributed to the pure PVA membranes representing the reflections from (110) and (112) of a monoclinic unit cell. \u0026nbsp;Also the peak observed at 2\u0026theta; \u0026sim; 26.32 \u0026deg; is due to the (002) reflection of hexagonal crystal structure of soybean carbon and the size of the particles was calculated by Scherrer\u0026apos;s formula \u0026nbsp;and found to be \u0026nbsp;27.41 nm as shown in Table 1. Earlier reports also stated the similar diffraction peaks for ZnO \u0026nbsp;and soybean carbon [24,25].\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eXRD Parameters for synthesized C-MgO Nano Composite\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"498\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 205px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eXRD Parameters\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 150px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormula\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eC-MgO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 205px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDebye Scherrer\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 150px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD=0.9\u0026lambda;/\u0026beta;Cos\u0026theta;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27.41nm\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 205px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eW-H Plot\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 150px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD=0.9\u0026lambda;/C\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17.03nm\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2 \u0026nbsp;SEM analysis of C-ZnO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the PVA matrix the nanoparticles of \u0026nbsp;C - ZnO \u0026nbsp;were dispersed. The surface properties and the size in terms of diameter of the nanofiber of PVA/C-ZnO fibers were investigated. In the images, a continuous homogeneous morphologies were seen along with some bead like structures here and there due to ZnO NP-loaded patches. The agglomeration is found to be very less and these homogeneous and smooth morphologies formed a porous network which can allow the diffusion of nutrients and oxygen \u0026nbsp;to the linked cells. The diameters of all fibers were measured and found to be 100 nm. \u0026nbsp;However, it is significant to observe that the presence of some agglomerates or clusters can affect the effective size and distribution of the nanoparticles in the composite material.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.3 Thermo gravimetric Analysis of C-ZnO Composite\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe thermal stability of the composite and the C-ZnO contents in the final composites were determined by TGA and was carried out from room temperature to 800 \u0026deg;C. It exhibited 5 stages for weight loss (Fig.4). In the beginning a weight loss of 27.33% was observed \u0026nbsp;between 100 and 166.2 \u0026deg;C due to the evaporation of molecules of water present in the composites. In the subsequent two steps the weight loss is due to the desorption of physically absorbed molecules wherein the polymeric molecules are binded on the surface by means of van der Waals forces, \u0026nbsp;hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. The fourth major stage from 240 to 402 \u0026deg;C is due to the decomposition of the side chain of the PVA. The weight percentage of the remaining residue at 799.5 \u0026deg;C was 43.56 %.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.4 Optimization of Nanoparticles Size\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe average particle size of C-ZnO, its distribution and polydispersity index were determined using a \u0026ldquo;Zetasizer\u0026rdquo; dynamic light scattering phenomenon[26]. Assuming the particle shapes are spherical and considering the Stokes Einstein Equation, \u0026nbsp;the intensity of light scattered by the particles were used to determine the mean hydrodynamic diameter (Z \u0026ndash; Avg Mean). \u0026nbsp;5 different measurements were made\u0026nbsp;for the sample \u0026nbsp;to calculate the standard deviation \u0026nbsp;and data average. \u0026nbsp;Particle size and polydispersity were found to be 5432.236 nm and 1 respectively.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.5 Discharge study in an Al-Air Battery\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe aluminium foil 5 cm \u0026times; 5 cm size was also cut into smaller pieces and kept at the bottom of a cylindrical tube. Absorbed glass mat (AGM)) separator was placed over it. \u0026nbsp; Above this space 0.6 g of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film doped with 2.0 wt. % of the nanoparticles which consists of carbon coated Zinc oxide (C-ZnO) was taken to serve as an air cathode. A good contact between the separator and the air cathode was ensured. \u0026nbsp;Potassium \u0026nbsp;hydroxide (KOH, 4M) is the electrolyte used. \u0026nbsp;The parasitic reaction in the anode was controlled by using limited quantity of electrolyte in the battery and \u0026nbsp;recirculation \u0026nbsp; of bulky electrolytes was also avoided[27].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince LEDs require a minimum of 1.5\u0026ndash;3V to be lighted, in the present work six batteries were put together and connected in a series inorder to supply the necessary \u0026nbsp;voltage to light the LED. As expected from a series conection of batteries, the voltage was additive and \u0026nbsp;to begin with it yielded 3.6 V which is sufficient \u0026nbsp;to use LEDs over a broad range of wavelengths.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSix such batteries were made and the batteries are connected in series to make a pack of batteries having an open circuit voltage of 3.6 V. \u0026nbsp;The battery pack was connected to LED lights to glow and the battery was discharged under a constant current. This type of battery is found to be fit to use in miniature applications. A red LED bulb which handles 20 milliamps current when connected to the above Al-air battery back initially the from 3.6 V it falls down to 1.8 V and it got stabilised at the same voltage with a gradual decrease in voltage for 86 hours (Fig.5) before it attains a voltage of 1.6 V. The battery got stabilised and the reactions are under total control. Further to study the capacity of the battery, it was discharged continuously till the battery voltage dropped to 0 V. \u0026nbsp; However, to the best of our knowledge similar reports in the literature was unknown.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;3.6 Electrochemical Performance\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCyclic Voltammetry (CV) in KOH (4M) solution was used to observe electrochemical characteristics of electrodes coated with C-ZnO nanoparticles. The standard three electrode system seen in electrochemical workstations consists of a working electrode (PVA/C-ZnO) and aluminium as a counter electrode as well as the reference electrode.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing the linear sweep voltammetry the batteries polarization curve was obtained. \u0026nbsp;A scan rate of 5 mV s\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;1\u003c/sup\u003e was employed to sweep the open-circuit voltage to 0 V of the battery. \u0026nbsp;Initially the discharge and charging experiments of the cell was \u0026nbsp;conducted \u0026nbsp;at 100mA g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026nbsp; to analyse the electrochemical behaviour of \u0026nbsp;the battery keeping the \u0026nbsp;voltage window starting from 1.4 V to 2.2 V (Fig.6). \u0026nbsp;We observed \u0026nbsp;an oxidation peak in the 1.25 V and at 1.44 V and two reduction peaks at the positions of 0.9 V and 0.48 V. \u0026nbsp;All the curves are almost identical, which indicate that the reversibility of the battery is excellent. More importantly linear rise in redox current peaks with an increase in the potential hints to the process in charge transfer at the interface owing to the redox effects and a rapid increase in the rate of mobility in electrons and ions. During the negative sweep the respective reduction events of these processes, were correlated with the galvanostatic charge-discharge curve for the battery. The redox processes appeared to be largely reversible but seems to be kinetically hindered, by exhibiting relatively wide peaks. The potential window is limited \u0026nbsp;to 1.8V \u0026nbsp; due to the degradation of the electrolyte above it.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFig 7. shows the corresponding CV curves, performed between 0 to 1.8V and under 5 to 100mV S\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e scan rates. It yielded good cyclic stability. At lower voltages \u0026nbsp;the curve confirms that during the electrochemical process \u0026nbsp;there are no more \u0026nbsp;redox peaks. The variation in the relative redox peaks intensities suggests a variation in the desired \u0026nbsp;mechanism. \u0026nbsp;Peaks of this type can be attributed to the insertion processes and disinfection processes which are occurring \u0026nbsp;in the interlayer space [28].\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe observed \u0026nbsp;an oxidation peak in the 1.25 V and at \u0026nbsp;1.44 V and two reduction peaks at the positions of 0.9 V and 0.48 V. \u0026nbsp;All the curves are almost identical, which indicate that the reversibility of the battery is excellent.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe CV curves showed clear cathodic and anodic peaks, indicating that the ZnO cathode was electrochemically active in the chosen electrolyte. The cathodic peak\u0026nbsp;observed at around\u0026nbsp;-0.45 V vs. Al can be attributed to the reduction of ZnO to Zinc metal (Zn) and oxygen (O\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e), while the anodic peak at around -0.1 V vs. Al can be attributed to the oxidation of Zn to ZnO. The peak potentials and shapes of the CV curves suggest that the ZnO cathode exhibited good reversibility and stability during repeated electrochemical cycling.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOxidation: \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Zn---------------Zn\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026nbsp; + 2e\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;.(2)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Zn\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e -------------Zn\u003csup\u003e3+\u003c/sup\u003e + e\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;..(3)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReduction : \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Zn\u003csup\u003e3+\u003c/sup\u003e+ e\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e---------- Zn\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;..(4)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Zn\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e + 2e\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e-------------Zn\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;(5)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe carbon coated ZnO probably accelerate the cathodic reaction.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVoltage profiles of the aluminium-ion battery during galvanostatic cycling at 4 to 10 mA discharge currents were displayed in Fig 8. \u0026nbsp; It lasted for 76 min before the battery dried out. \u0026nbsp;From \u0026nbsp; Fig 11, it is evident that the duration of discharge and discharge current are inversely proportional to each other. When we increased the discharge current from 4 mA to 10 mA the discharge time was less.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reduction of battery voltage during the discharge process is due to the consumption of hydroxyl and aluminium ions. Once both the ions are consumed the battery may not be in a position to deliver the required discharge current and the battery voltage dropped to 0V. It was observed that during the discharge of the battery, if high current is used, it lead to a faster drop of battery voltage[29].\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the above results, it is visible that a small current load from a \u0026nbsp;aluminium-air battery could produce \u0026nbsp;higher cell voltage initially and will also have a longer period \u0026nbsp;of discharge when compared to current loads with high discharge. In other words, quick consumption of the hydroxyl and aluminium ions present in the battery causes a sudden decrease in the voltage of the battery. Therefore, it indicates that by increasing the amount of electrolyte or the size of the aluminium anode, \u0026nbsp;one can further improve the battery capacity in order to extend the discharge period.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;In line with the above \u0026nbsp;in this study we have proposed a cost saving aluminium-air battery. \u0026nbsp;A test to exhaust the battery was conducted to to find out its lifetime by connecting to a LED bulb which can draw 30 mA of current and the OCV was monitored continuously to observe the change in voltage. \u0026nbsp;we also reported the \u0026nbsp;device composition, like the cathodic material C-ZnO as the catalyst, the electrode dimensions, \u0026nbsp;and the potential use in minor applications. \u0026nbsp;In order to power small devices we have connected the batteries in series, however, it is important to note that high power is required. A maximum current of 30 mA and power of 54 mW was achieved with a battery that has 4.38g of anode material and 1.45 g of cathode material with 4M KOH. \u0026nbsp;Being done in a real time application mode, to the best of our knowledge similar reports in the literature was unknown. Six batteries in a series configuration produced a \u0026nbsp;voltage of 3.6 V and was used to power a LED \u0026nbsp;device and showed a \u0026nbsp;discharge current of 30mA \u0026nbsp;a specific capacity of 326mAhg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;1\u003c/sup\u003eand an energy density of 3243 Wh kg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;1\u003c/sup\u003e. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Work is in progress for making the batteries more user-friendly \u0026nbsp;and this could \u0026nbsp;be a prototype for further alterations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was reported in the literature that carbon containing heteroatom will have high surface area and exhibit higher capacitance when compared to the carbon without heteroatoms. Since we used nitrogen heteroatom richer soybean carbon, a biomass-derived carbon posses unique surface properties and has served better \u0026nbsp;in the form of a battery for energy storage applications. Unlike external doping, since our process is a self-doping of heteroatoms process, it doesn\u0026apos;t required additional steps \u0026nbsp;for processing and/or use of harmful chemicals. Also soybean is a renewable resource it is cheap, \u0026nbsp;and proves to be environmentally friendly[30]. Another aspect in our study is ZnO serves as a electrocatalyst and electrochemical \u0026nbsp;studies using CV where all the curves are almost identical indicated that the reversibility of the battery is excellent[31-34]. Hence, Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles may serve as a better cathode in Aluminium ion and aluminium air batteries.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eFilms of Polyvinyl alcohol doped with nanoparticles of soybean carbon coated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) was made as a cathode and characterised by XRD analysis, SEM images, FTIR spectra and TGA analysis. It yielded good cyclic stability in CV analysis when evaluated by means of an electrochemical workstation. A prototype aluminium ion battery was constructed and on discharge of this battery using a red LED bulb which handles 30 mA current got stabilised at 1.8 V for 86 hours. It was found to be acceptable to use in miniature applications. Also with a OCV of 3.6 Vpower of 54 mW was achieved with a battery that has 4.38g of anode material and 1.45 g of cathode material with 4M KOH with a specific capacity of 326 mAhg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003eand an energy density of 3243 Wh kg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. Being done in a real time application mode, to the best of our knowledge similar reports in the literature was unknown. Although work is in progress in our laboratory to make the batteries more user-friendly and compact, the battery proposed in the present work could act as a prototype with small modifications.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgement\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors thank the Centre of Material Chemistry Centre and Centre of Food and Nanotechnology, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education for using their Instrument facility.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of interest\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResearch Data Policy\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eBDK: Took part in methodology, writing, original draft. SR: Took part in investigation, formal analysis, review \u0026amp; editing and supervision.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYangtao, Ruihan Zhang, Jun Wang, Yan Wang, (2021).Current and future lithium-ion battery manufacturing I Science, 24:4:102332\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eQi Li, Juner Chen, Lei Fan, Xueqian Kong, Yingying Lu, (2016) Progress in electrolytes for rechargeable Li-based batteries and beyond, Green Energy \u0026amp; Environment,1:1:,18\u0026ndash;42\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRyohei Mori,(2020) Recent Developments for Aluminum\u0026ndash;Air Batteries, Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 3:344\u0026ndash;369,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLi Y,, Lu J (2017) Metal\u0026ndash;air batteries: will they be the future electrochemical energy storage device of choice? ACS Energy Lett. 26:1370\u0026ndash;1377,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCheng F, Chen J, (2012) Metal\u0026ndash;air batteries: from oxygen reduction electrochemistry to cathode catalysts. Chem. Soc. Rev. 41: 2172\u0026ndash;2192\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLiu Y, Sun Q, Li W, et al. (2017). A comprehensive review on recent progress in aluminum\u0026ndash;air batteries. Green Energy Environ.2: 246\u0026ndash;277\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMokhtar M, Zainal M, Majlan E H, et al. (2015) Recent developments in materials for aluminum\u0026ndash;air batteries: a review. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 32:1\u0026ndash;20 Tan Weng Cheong, Saw Lip Huat, Yew Ming Chian, Sun Dongyang, Cai Zuansi, Chong Wen Tong, Kuo Pei-Yu, (2021) Analysis of the Polypropylene-Based Aluminium-Air Battery, Frontiers in Energy Research, 9\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eZhang Y, Liu S, Ji Y, Ma J, and Yu H (2018) Emerging non aqueous aluminium-ion batteries: challenges, status, and perspectives. Adv. Mater. 30:1706310\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCheng F, Chen J, (2012) Metal\u0026ndash;air batteries: from oxygen reduction electrochemistry to cathode catalysts. Chem. Soc. Rev. 41:2172\u0026ndash;2192\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMori R, (2017)Rechargeable aluminum\u0026ndash;air battery using various aircathode materials and suppression of byproducts formation on both anode and air cathode. 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Nicholas Lim, Prof. Madhavi Srinivasan, (2024) Solid State Zinc and Aluminum ion batteries: Challenges and Opportunities, ChemSusChem, 18:3. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202202297\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1002/cssc.202202297\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"ionics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":" Learn more about [Ionics](https://www.springer.com/journal/11581) ","snPcode":"11581","submissionUrl":"https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ionics","title":"Ionics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Aluminium air battery, Aluminium ion Battery, Poly vinyl alcohol, C-ZnO","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7263777/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7263777/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAluminium–ion and aluminium–air batteries offer potential as cost-effective and sustainable energy storage systems, but their commercial application remains limited due to challenges such as aluminium anode self-corrosion, slow oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics, and the use of expensive catalysts. In this study, nitrogen-rich soybean carbon-coated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized and incorporated into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to form a cathode film. The composite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Elemental analysis revealed 4.68% nitrogen in the soybean carbon. XRD confirmed crystalline ZnO (peaks at 2θ = 31.84° to 61.2°) and hexagonal carbon structure (2θ ≈ 26.32°), with a particle size of 27.41 nm. SEM images showed nanofibrous morphology, and TGA indicated four-stage weight loss with 43.56% residue at 800 °C. The particle size and polydispersity index were 5432.236 nm and 0.1, respectively. Electrochemical behaviour was studied using cyclic voltammetry, and a prototype aluminium-ion battery was assembled. The battery powered a red LED for 86 hours continuously at 1.8 V with a 30 mA discharge current, achieving 54 mW power. Using 4.38 g aluminium anode and 1.45 g cathode material in 4 M KOH, the battery delivered a specific capacity of 326 mAh g⁻¹ and energy density of 3243 Wh kg⁻¹. This work demonstrates a promising bio-derived cathode approach for aluminium-based batteries\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Soybean carbon coated zinc oxide nanoparticles as a cathode in Aluminium ion battery","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-01 08:55:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7263777/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-28T15:11:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-17T22:57:27+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-01T16:09:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"300311115987021284519798932301226482591","date":"2025-08-24T14:49:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"196922460039455895046309959716566766161","date":"2025-08-21T13:32:37+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"332274229359034116792564752994205193427","date":"2025-08-19T16:36:10+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-19T13:25:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-04T05:19:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-08-04T05:19:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Ionics","date":"2025-07-31T15:12:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"ionics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":" Learn more about [Ionics](https://www.springer.com/journal/11581) ","snPcode":"11581","submissionUrl":"https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ionics","title":"Ionics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2fb6635b-6901-4bbe-8a9a-735d68105edd","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 1st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-15T21:23:44+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-01 08:55:26","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7263777","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7263777","identity":"rs-7263777","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}