Abstract This paper designs two battery exploration experiments suitable for the high school compulsory stage,applying digital handheld technology to conduct a single liquid zinc-copper battery experiment. And it investigates the performance and reaction phenomenon differences of single liquid zinc-copper batteries composed with four types of copper metal materials and various electrolyte compositions,the reasons for these differences are analyzed. The experimental results show that when different copper metals are used as the cathode,the performance of the resulting battery varies. The analysis suggests that other elements present in the different copper cathodes will react preferentially with the electrolyte or simultaneously with the theoretical zinc-copper battery,leading to the observed differences. Additionally,when copper sulfate is used as the electrolyte,the voltage and current of the battery decay rapidly and fluctuate greatly,whereas those of the dilute sulfuric acid battery can remain relatively stable,because copper sulfate electrolyte rapidly changes the morphology and actual reaction area of the zinc electrode.
LIANG Jian-Lun, OU Jun-Min, NAN Jun-Min. Effects of Different Composition Copper Cathodes and Electrolytes on Single-Aqueous Copper-Zinc Primary Cells[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Education, 2025, 46(9): 86-93.
