Micro aluminum-air batteries for extended operational duration of small-scale quadrotors
摘要
Small-scale quadrotors, typically defined as centimeter-scale in size and tens of grams in weight, are increasingly being utilized in applications such as agricultural monitoring or search and rescue operations. These vehicles are typically powered with lithium-ion batteries. However, vehicle operational efficiency and capability are often compromised by the limited energy density of these batteries, resulting in short operational duration. This work explores a high-energy chemistry, aluminum-air (Al-air), as a power source to significantly extend the operational duration of small-scale quadrotors. Rapid corrosion of the aluminum anode in existing Al-air systems has been a barrier to adoption in applications where long-term operation is required. However, corrosion is less of a concern in the small-scale quadrotor application, where the battery is typically under continuous use over a short period of time. The electrochemical and packaging design of a micro-Al-air pouch cell battery is optimized for two operating points: an energy density of 325