New Zinc-Air Battery Design Increases Capacity and Power by 80%, According to Spanish Researchers

      Researchers at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) in Spain have redesigned the architecture for zinc-air batteries that can boost their power output by up to 80% without altering their core chemistry. The new design employs wireless bipolar electrodes, which facilitate charge transport and lower internal resistance. The Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and the National University of La Plata in Argentina were also involved in the study, which was published in the journal Energy Storage Materials.

     The new study challenges the principle that the electrolyte must block the passage of electrons to avoid any risk of a short circuit. Euronews explains:

“The key lies in the electric field generated between the two electrodes when the battery is operating. The researchers have found that inserting one or more isolated conductive elements between them does not cause a short circuit and can help to improve charge transport.”

“The electric field polarises the conductive pieces, which accumulate opposite charges at their ends and create new pathways for charge transport. This reduces internal resistance and makes it possible to deliver energy more quickly. "What is remarkable is that these conductors are not wired to anything: they are simply inserted into the system and they produce beneficial effects," Casañ-Pastor explains.

     Oxygen remains a challenge in zinc-air batteries due to its slow reaction time.

“The new design incorporates wireless bipolar electrodes that reduce internal resistance and speed up energy delivery, allowing power to be increased by up to 80%.”

     The researchers think that this opens up the potential of wireless bipolar electrodes in other battery systems as well.

     The research shows that inducing polarization in wireless bipolar electrodes can lead to increased power density. According to the abstract:

“In all cases, ohmic resistance is massively lowered (up 64%), while charge transfer resistance is decreased even more. Power density increases up to 80% (volumetric) for specific configurations, while the limit current density increased > 50%.”

     The following section from the paper’s conclusions touches on the potential implications of the Zinc-air battery redesign, when further developed:

“Overall, the use of reactive Zn induced anodes, allows to improve the lifetime of the battery as well as the current density used, and the power output, offering a new design for Zn/Air batteries. Despite the drop in performance upon Zn dissolution during cycling in BipPtZnU, the results are very promising and encourage further research into mixed bipolar electrodes with greater longevity and reversibility. Alternative conducting materials, like carbons of green origin (e.g. biocarbons) could offer a significant alternative to the metals tested here, if they are able to undergo redox reactions as shown in Zn induced anode and cathode. Thus, this work serves as a starting point for designing new configurations with potential applications in commercial Zn/Air batteries.”

    

 

    

References:

 

New Spanish-made zinc-air battery design boosts capacity and power by 80%. Escarlata Sánchez. Euronews. September 10, 2026. New Spanish-made zinc-air battery design boosts capacity and power by 80%

Unlocking high power in membraneless Zn–air batteries: A paradigm shift via wireless bipolar electrochemistry. M. Mosqueda, L.N. Bengoa, S. Goñi, and N. Casañ-Pastor. Energy Storage Materials. Article: 105418. Volume 90. August 2026. Unlocking high power in membraneless Zn–air batteries: A paradigm shift via wireless bipolar electrochemistry - ScienceDirect