Activity

pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

An Open-Ended Project: Building a High Performance, yet Simple,

Household Battery
Ping Y. Furlan,*, Thomas Krupa, Humza Naqiv, and Kyle Anderson
Chemistry Department, University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, Titusville, Pennsylvania 16354, United States
S Supporting Information
*

ABSTRACT: An open-ended activity for high school students and college students is
described. Students constructed a battery (galvanic cell) from common household materials
such as aluminum, copper, table salt, and Drano. The battery yielded voltages ranging from
1.2 to 1.9 V, which are higher than those from a typical ZnCu lemon cell or a recently
reported aluminumair battery, and a current density of 33 mA/cm2 that is up to 75 times
better than that of the aluminumair battery and 150 times better than those of the typical
lemon batteries. Students carried out various tests on the battery to gain an understanding
of the factors aecting the cell performance, such as eect of household materials, NaCl in
the electrolyte solution, electrode surface area, and electrode distance. Then, students,
working in groups, were tasked to build a high-performance battery using common
household materials. The nal battery assembly should be able to power the motors of
various toy cars. The project allowed students to relate chemistry to their everyday lives,
gain additional insight in the concepts and principles of electrochemistry, and receive
valuable hands-on experiences with electronics, circuits, and battery technology.
KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Second-Year Undergraduate,
Public Understanding/Outreach, Hands-On Learning/Manipulative, Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning,
Electrolytic/Galvanic Cells/Potentials, Student-Centered Learning

high performance battery using Al as the anode and other

readily available household materials as the cathode and the
electrolyte solution. The performance of the battery was
evaluated based on the batterys voltage, current, and current
density at the Al electrode. Using Al, Cu, table salt, and Drano,
the students successfully created the galvanic cells with voltages
ranging from 1.2 to 1.9 V, which are higher than those from an
Alair battery. A high current density of 33 mA/cm2 was
achieved, which is up to 75 times better than that of the Alair
battery. The nal battery assembly provided currents as high as
790 mA and ran the motors of various toy cars. In this article,
we describe an open-ended procedure used by these students,
and invite upper-level high school and rst- and second-year
college students to try this procedure and use their knowledge
and imagination to build a high performance homemade
battery.

ollege students enjoy making homemade batteries

containing one or more galvanic cells involving dissimilar
metal strips and fruits such as lemons.13 These batteries
demonstrate how electrical power can be extracted from the
chemical energy stored in the household materials in special
devices that can easily be constructed. They are economical
ways that help students learn oxidationreduction reactions
and how these reactions are used to power laptops, cell phones,
and uninterruptible power systems for military and civilian
vehicles, aircraft, and shipboard, for instance. Students are often
dissatised, however, because these types of cells do not
provide substantial current and are seldom used to produce
useful work except for running small devices such as calculators
or digital clocks.13 Aluminum is among the most common
metals on earth and readily available to students. Its lightweight
and three-electron oxidation state makes it an attractive anode
material with a high specic capacity of 2980 (mA h)/g. An
article recently published in this Journal described an
aluminumair battery that generated 1 V (similar to that
from a ZnCu lemon cell) and 100 mA.3,4 Because a 15 cm
15 cm aluminum foil was used as the anode, a current density
of 0.44 mA/cm2 was produced at the Al electrode. This current
density doubled those (0.170.24 mA/cm2) from a typical
ZnCu lemon juice battery (with an electrode surface area of 5
cm2).3,4
At the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville (UPT), the
student aliates (science and engineering majors) of the
American Chemical Society (ACS) were challenged to build a
2013 American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

EXPERIMENT OVERVIEW
Students worked in groups of 24. Each group constructed a
battery (galvanic cell) using common household materials such
as aluminum, copper, table salt, and Drano. Students carried
out various tests on the battery to gain an understanding of the
factors aecting the cell performance:
Eect of household materials
Eect of NaCl in the electrolyte solution
Eects of electrode surface area
Published: August 22, 2013
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Activity

Eect of electrode distance

Then, the students were tasked to build a high-performance
battery using common household materials. The nal battery
assembly should be able to power the motors of various toy
cars. Students perform these tasks in the lab either during two
regularly scheduled 3-h lab periods or outside of the regular lab
time with the instructors permission and supervision.

or a base, or should perform these procedures under close

supervision. Students should wear goggles, gloves, and perform
all experiments in a laboratory fume hood.

RESULTS

Eect of Household Materials

Student data reported in Table 1 resulted from paring

aluminum with a metal in an electrolyte solution: trials 13
compared dierent electrolyte solutions and trials 47 dierent
metals. The aluminum sheet, atter and easier to work with
when compared to the soda can aluminum, was used for
constructing the Al electrodes. Better battery performance,
however, was achieved using the Al from the soda can. The
students found that the metal pairs with large dierences in
their electrode potentials generally produced higher voltages.
The electrolyte solutions were varied from single component
such as vinegar or table salt to multiple components including
table salt and Drano. Students found that the single component
electrolyte solutions produced low currents and concluded that
the Al/Drano, table salt/Cu battery had superior performance:
it stabilized in less than 2 min, provided the highest voltage,
current, and current density, and ran steadily with constant
current and voltage output for at least 2 h. Diluting Drano with
water decreased the cell performance.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Teams of 24 students were supplied with an aluminum soda
can (0.3 mm thick) or sheet (1.0 mm thick), a copper sheet
(0.8 mm thick), and other metals (zinc, 0.8 mm thick; iron, 0.8
mm thick; Ni, 0.7 mm thick), and household materials
including vinegar (5% HC2H3O2), table salt (NaCl), bleach
(56% NaClO, <1% NaOH), and Drano Liquid Drain Cleaner
(15% NaOH, 37% NaClO, 15% Na2SiO3). Other supplies
included beakers (150 or 250 mL), small butter containers (3
cm 12 cm 3 cm), copper wire, alligator clip leads, clear
silicone sealant, coee stirring sticks, steel wool, metal cutter,
pliers, small dc motors (1.23.0 V, 0.20.8 A) and toy cars as
well as a digital multimeter, a ruler, and a laboratory balance.
Students may bring in their own choice of materials.

GENERAL SETUP
In a typical cell, the dissimilar metal plates, cleaned by
scrubbing with steel wool, rested on the bottom of a beaker
(avoid contact between them). A wire was attached to each
metal plate in a simple crimp-style connection (Figure 1). The

Eect of NaCl in the Electrolyte Solution

Three electrolyte solutions were prepared by dissolving 10, 20,

and 30 g of NaCl in 100 mL of Drano. The largest mass, 30 g,
of NaCl did not dissolve completely forming a saturated
solution. As expected, an increase in current was observed as
more NaCl or ions were added, although diminishing return
was seen as solution approached saturation (Figure 2). The
voltage remained fairly constant with added NaCl and showed a
slight decrease when undissolved salt was present (Figure 3).
Data were collected using 2 cm 10 cm Al/Cu plates.
Eects of Electrode Surface Area

Al and Cu plates measuring 2 cm 2 cm, 4 cm 4 cm, and 2

cm 10 cm were used, along with an electrolyte solution
containing NaCl and Drano in a ratio of 20 g NaCl to 100 mL
Drano. Although the voltage (1.21.4 V) was relatively
unaected, the current increased signicantly as the surface
area of the electrodes increased (132 mA for the 2 cm 2 cm
plates and 280 mA for the 2 cm 10 cm plates). The 2 cm 2
cm plates corresponded to a current density of 33 mA/cm2,
which is at least 75 times higher than that of the Alair battery
and 150 times that of the lemon cell.

Figure 1. (A) Schematic of attaching the wire to the metal electrode;

the electrode is cut and folded over wire and the metal is crimped to
ensure a solid connection. (B) The electrodes attached to a
multimeter.

electrolyte solution was added to the container, and the

alligator clips were used to connect the metal plates to a digital
multimeter, which measured the cell voltage and current.
Because data were obtained by connecting the multimeter to
the cell as the only circuit element, they represented the opencircuit voltage and the short-circuit current. These data were
compared to those reported from the Alair battery and the
lemon batteries that also represented the open-circuit voltages
or the short-circuit currents.

Eect of Electrode Distance

HAZARDS
Drano and bleach are corrosive. They can cause eye and skin
burns and are harmful if swallowed. When bleach is mixed with
an acid, harmful chlorine gas is formed; when mixed with
ammonia, poisonous chloramines are produced. Students
should avoid procedures involving mixing bleach with an acid

At this point, students selected the electrodes, the sizes of, and
the distance between the electrodes, and the electrolyte
solution for the nal battery assembly. They should consider
whether to connect individual cells in series (to increase the
voltage output), in parallel (to increase the current output), or
in a combination of both series and parallel, to optimize the

The 2 cm 10 cm Al/Cu plates were immersed in 25 g NaCl/

100 mL Drano solutions. As the distance between the
electrodes was reduced from 1.0 to 0.5 cm, the voltage
remained constant whereas the current increased from 183 to
213 mA. As expected, shortening the distance between the
electrodes reduced the internal resistance resulting in an
increased current.

The Final Assembly

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Activity

Table 1. Student Data for Cell Current, Voltage, and Current Density at the Al Electrode
Trial

Metal Pairs

Electrolyte Solution

Area (cm2)

Current/

Voltage/V

mA

Al/Cu
2.5 6.0
3.0
Al/Cu
2.5 6.0
3.0
Al/Cu
2.5 6.0
3.0
Al/Cu
3.5 3.8
3.6
Al/Ni
3.5 3.8
3.6
Al/Fe
3.5 3.8
3.6
Al/Zn
3.5 3.8
3.6

Reaction System

(mA/cm2)

Distance (cm)
1

Current
Density/

10 g NaCl + 50 mL vinegar + 50 mL bleach

140

0.645

9.3

Formed gas with pungent odor; corroded rapidly

10 g NaCl + 50 mL Drano + 50 mL water

152

1.22

10.1

Stable; no strong smell; lasted for at least 2 h.

10 g NaCl + 100 mL Drano

191

1.82

12.7

Stable; no strong smell; lasted for at least 2 h.

20 g NaCl + 100 mL Drano

155

1.86

11.7

Stable; no strong smell; lasted for at least 2 h.

20 g NaCl + 100 mL Drano

78

1.46

5.9

Stable; no strong smell; lasted for at least 2 h.

20 g NaCl + 100 mL Drano

40

0.868

3.0

Stable; no strong smell; lasted for at least 2 h.

20 g NaCl + 100 mL Drano

70

0.735

5.3

Stable; no strong smell; lasted for at least 2 h.

battery performance. They also should consider the batterys

size so it could t in the toy cars easily. The students nal
assembly, shown in Figure 4, utilized three Al and two Cu strips

Figure 4. The cross-section view of the nal assembly of the cell with
dimensions of 3 cm 12 cm 3 cm.

Figure 2. The eect of NaCl on the current of the Al/Drano, table

salt/Cu cell.

of 2 cm 10 cm by size. They were connected in parallel and

immersed in a 20 g NaCl/100 mL Drano solution in a butter
container (3 cm 12 cm 3 cm). The electrodes were
separated with small pieces of plastic cut from a coee stirrer (1
mm in diameter) that were glued on the electrodes using
silicone sealant. The battery current and voltage, measured 5
min after the cell operated, were (385 15) mA and (1.342
0.055) V, respectively (Table 2). The battery yielded a current
density of (6.4 0.3) mA/cm2. The assemblys performance
was enhanced when the Al electrodes were constructed from a
soda can: the assembly oered a current of 790 mA, a voltage of
1.688 V, and a current density of 13 mA/cm2. All assemblies
ran the motors of several toy cars.

DISCUSSION: THE CHEMISTRY OF Al/DRANO,

TABLE SALT/Cu CELL
Students may be challenged to propose the possible cell
reactions responsible for the high performance of the Al/
Drano, table salt/Cu cell by analyzing the changes of the major

Figure 3. The eect of NaCl on the voltage of the Al/Drano, table

salt/Cu cell.

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Activity

Table 2. Student Generated Current, Voltage, and Current Density of the Final Battery Assembly
Measurements at 5 mina

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Averageb

Standard Deviation

Relative Standard Deviation/%

Current/mA
Voltage/V
Current Density/(mA/cm2)

391.0
1.404
6.5

367.1
1.318
6.1

396.0
1.303
6.6

385
1.342
6.4

15
0.055
0.3

3.9
4.1
4

a
The electrode materials were a 1.0 mm thick aluminum sheet and a 0.8 mm thick copper sheet. bMuch higher voltage (1.688 V), current (790 mA)
and surface current density (13 mA/cm2) were achieved when the Al electrode was constructed from a soda can.

species involved. These include changes in mass of the

electrodes and the major components, NaOH, NaClO and
NaCl, in the electrolyte solution. After 2 h of reaction, the mass
of copper electrode was found to have stayed unchanged and
that of aluminum lost by 4.3%. The mass loss of Al suggests a
standard oxidation of Al. Aluminum thus acts as an anode and
serves as a reducing agent and the copper an inert cathode
(electron shunt). In aqueous alkaline solutions, the anode half
reaction may be expressed as5
Anode:
Al(s) + 3OH(aq) Al(OH)3 (s) + 3e
E Al/Al(OH)3 = 2.32 V

(1)

An expanded description of aluminum oxidation in eq 1 should

include Al dissolution as aluminate, Al(OH)4, as limited by the
solubility of Al(OH)3,6
Al(OH)3 (s) + OH(aq) Al(OH)4 (aq)

(2)

K = [Al(OH)4 ]/[OH]

(3)

pK = 0.509

Figure 5. The potentiometric titration curves of the analyte solutions

against a standard HCl (0.0993 M) solution. The analyte solution is
prepared by diluting 5.75 mL of either unreacted or reacted electrolyte
solution with 75 mL of deionized H2O. The unreacted analyte
solution refers to the cell electrolyte solution before the cells
operation and the reacted solution to the one after the cell being
operated for more than 1 h. The titration curves provide information
on the cell-reaction-induced changes in the quantities of strong base
(OH ions) and weak base (ClO ions) in the electrolyte solution.
The titration reaction from beginning to the rst equivalence point is
represented by H+(aq) + OH(aq) H2O(l) and from rst to second
equivalence point by H+(aq) + ClO(aq) HClO(aq).

During the cell operation, a white foamy gelatin-like layer

was developed near the Al electrode, which turned into white
akes that suspended in the electrolyte solution. White deposits
were also observed to form on the Al electrode. The observed
white akes and deposits are consistent with the formation of
the water insoluble Al(OH)3 product as described by eq 1.
Students may also be asked to carry out a potentiometric
titration to compare the quantities of strong base, due to OH
ions, and weak base, due to ClO ions, in the electrolyte
solution before the cell operation and after the cell being
operated for more than one hour. Typical data, shown in Figure
5, illustrates a denitive consumption of ClO ions. The
formation of pungent odor gas (chlorine) was not detected.
Because the electrolyte solution was almost saturated with
NaCl, no attempt was made to detect the change in chloride
concentration. The results suggest that ClO ions in the
solution are reduced at the cathode, serving as the oxidizing
agent. The cathode half reaction may therefore be expressed as

remain relatively constant. This is supported by Figure 5, which

shows although appreciable decrease in the ClO quantity is
observed, the change in the OH content, if any, is slight.
Equation 5 predicts a high thermodynamic standard cell voltage
of 3.21 V. Using the conditions described, open-circuit voltages
close to 1.9 V were observed. Because the experiments were not
carried out under the standard 1 M concentrations for all the
electro-active solution species and the solid electro-active
species were not pure, deviation of voltage measured from the
Nernst behavior is expected. However, such eect should be
limited. Because 6 mol of electrons is transferred in the
balanced equation as described by eq 5, a 10-fold change in
concentration would result in 1000-fold change in reaction
quotient in the Nernst equation, corresponding to a voltage
change by only 0.03 V. The dierence between the voltage
calculated thermodynamically and the voltage observed must be
largely attributed to the various forms of over potentials,
including resistance, concentration, and activation over
potentials.8,9 Additionally, parasitic reactions that compete
with the electrochemical reaction contribute to the cell voltage
reduction. These parasitic reactions may include the chemical
(as opposed to electrochemical) reaction described by eq 5 and

Cathode:
ClO(aq) + H 2O(l) + 2e Cl(aq) + 2OH(aq)
EClO /Cl = 0.89 V7

(4)

And the overall cell reaction is

2Al(s) + 3ClO(aq) + 3H 2O(l) 2Al(OH)3 (s)
+ 3Cl(aq)

E o = 3.21 V

(5)

Although OH ions may take part in the cell processes as

shown by eqs 1 and 4, they do not appear in the net
electrochemical process as described by eq 5. The pH and the
quantity of OH ions of the electrolyte would be expected to
1344

2H 2O(l) + 2e H 2(g) + 2OH(aq)

(6)

4OH(aq) O2 (g) + 2H 2O(l) + 4e

(7)

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Journal of Chemical Education

Al(s) + 3/4O2 (g) + OH(aq) + 3/2H 2O(l)

Al(OH)4 (aq)

(8)

(9)

Because the soda can is an alloy containing 97.8% aluminum,

1.2% manganese, and 1.0% magnesium,10 the enhanced battery
performance may result from the Al being activated and the
parasitic reactions being reduced due to the presence of other
metals.11,12 Additionally, when the less pure aluminum from the
can was used, a tint of gray was observed in the white
precipitate.

SUMMARY
The activity allows students to gain experiences on how
electrode and electrolyte material selection aects the battery
performance. It shows an increased electrode surface area, a
decreased distance between the electrodes, and an increased
quantity of the mobile ions or reacting species in the electrolyte
solution result in an increased cell current. It also shows that
although cell voltage largely depends on the cell reactions,
various forms of over potentials and parasitic reactions can
aect the cell voltage signicantly. Students experience
connecting cells in series, parallel, or a combination of both
to vary the battery voltage and current. They appreciate
constructing anodes using the lightweight and abundant
aluminum that provides three electrons upon oxidation and
enjoy a high performance battery built with some well-known
household materials. The project allows students to gain better
understanding of electrochemistry, familiarity with the battery
technology, and valuable hands-on experiences with electronics
and circuits.

REFERENCES

(1) Goodisman, J. Observations on Lemon Cells. J. Chem. Educ.

2001, 78, 516518.
(2) Swartling, D. J.; Morgan, C. Lemon Cells Revisited-The LemonPowered Calculator. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 181182.
(3) Muske, K. R.; Nigh, C. W.; Weinstein, R. D. A Lemon Cell
Battery for High-Power Applications. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 635
638.
(4) Tamez, M.; Yu, J. H. Aluminum-Air Battery. J. Chem. Educ. 2007,
84 (12), 1936A1936B.
(5) Licht, S.; Marsh, C. A Novel Aqueous Aluminum/Ferricyanide
Battery. J. Electrochem. Soc. 1992, 139 (12), L109L111.
(6) Chu, D.; Savinell, R. F. Experimental Data on Aluminum
Dissolution in KOH Electrolytes. Electrochim. Acta 1991, 36, 1631
1638.
(7) Perchlorate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate (accessed
July 2013).
(8) Battery Technologies and MarketsVoltage Drops. http://
battery.berkeley.edu (accessed July 2013).
(9) Overpotential. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpotential (accessed July 2013).
(10) The Disappearing Aluminum Can: An Oxidation-Reduction
Activity. http://www.hschem.org/Laboratory/Flinn/
Disappearing%20Aluminum%20Can.pdf (accessed July 2013).
(11) MacDonald, D. D.; English, C. Development of Anodes for
Aluminum/Air BatteriesSolution Phase Inhibition of Corrosion. J.
Appl. Electrochem. 1990, 20, 405417.
(12) Licht, S.; Myung, N. A High Energy and Power Novel
Aluminum/Nickel Battery. J. Electrochem. Soc. 1995, 142, L179L182.

Al(s) + OH(aq) + 3H 2O(l)

Al(OH)4 (aq) + 3/2H 2(g)

Activity

ASSOCIATED CONTENT

S Supporting Information
*

Handouts for students and notes for instructors. This material

is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: furlanp@usmma.edu.
Present Address

P.Y.F.: Math and Science Department, U.S. Merchant Marine

Academy, Kings Point, NY 11024.
Notes

The authors also declare the views expressed in this article are
the authors own and not those of the U.S. Merchant Marine
Academy, the Maritime Administration, the Department of
Transportation or the United States government.
The authors declare no competing nancial interest.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank our students, Stanley Tyler, Joe

Hartshorne, Josh Homan, Greg Aaron, Sophia Lubrin, and
Anthonie Campbell, for their invaluable contribution to the
project.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed4000603 | J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 13411345