Discharge properties and electrochemical behaviors of AZ80-La-Gd magnesium anode for Mg-air battery

In this work, the discharge properties and electrochemical behaviors of as-cast AZ80-La-Gd anode for Mg-air battery have been investigated and compared with the AZ80 anode. The microstructure evolution, electrochemical behaviors and surface morphologies after discharge have been discussed to connect the discharge properties. The results indicate that the modified AZ80-La-Gd is an outstanding candidate for anode for Mg-air batter, which has high cell voltage, stable discharge curves, good specific capacity and energy, and good anodic efficiency. It exhibits the best anodic efficiency, specific capacity and energy of 76.45%, 1703.6 mAh•g−1 and 2186.3 mWh•g−1, respectively, which are 20.24%, 18.92% and 25.71% higher than values for AZ80 anode. Such excellent discharge performance is attributed to the Al-RE particles. They refine the Mg17Al12 phase and therefore improve the self-corrosion resistance and desorption ability of AZ80 anode.