The self-corrosion of aluminum anodes
is one of the key issues
that hinder the development and application of low-cost and high-energy-density
Al–air batteries (AABs). Herein, a hybrid corrosion inhibitor
combining ZnO and acrylamide (AM) was developed to construct a dense
protective interface on the Al anode to suppress the self-corrosion
and enhance the electrochemical performance of AABs. Also, the results
show that the hydrogen evolution rate with the optimal combination
of hybrid inhibitors is 0.0848 mL cm–2 min–1, corresponding to the inhibition efficiency of 78.03%. The integrated
AABs with hybrid inhibitors show remarkable capacities of 1240.6 mA
h g–1 (25 mA cm–2) and 2444.1
mA h g–1 (100 mA cm–2) and a high
power density of 63.7 mW cm–2. This shows that ZnO
dissolves into the electrolyte and forms a loose and porous film on
the Al surface. When AM is introduced into the ZnO-containing electrolyte,
the adsorption of the amide group of AM on the surface of aluminum
and ZnO occurs, which not only controls the growth morphology of ZnO
but also enables ZnO to easily aggregate into a layer that is in close
contact with the anode, efficiently suppressing self-corrosion. This
work opens up the prospect of a corrosion inhibition mechanism for
ZnO and AM in alkaline solutions and for developing effective organic/inorganic
hybrid inhibitors.