I really got a charge out of this experiment! The batteries I make in this video are aluminum air batteries. To make them, I use aluminum foil, charcoal and an electrolyte solution made of sodium hydroxide, salt and sodium bicarbonate. I found that steel wool worked really well as a current collector on the cathode, and was able to obtain single battery voltages between 1.2 – 1.6V per battery. To charge my iPhone, I ended up using 10 batteries connected in series to generate sufficient voltage to power the car charger I had. It was a fun and challenging experiment! #chemistry #survivalscience #electrochemistry #batteries #chemteacherphil