Chinese Scientists Develop Water-based Battery with Twice the Energy Capacity of Lithium Cells

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Scientists from China reported a promising alternative to lithium batteries. by publishing a recent magazine article Nature. According to the researchers, they have developed a water-based electrolyte that is not susceptible to fire. But it’s not just about safety “watery” batteries. They can store almost twice as much energy as the latest lithium batteries – up to 1200 Wh / L.

The development was reported by scientists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The aqueous electrolyte they proposed contains solutions of iodine and bromine. In the past, scientists investigated the possibility of creating batteries with a higher capacity using aqueous electrolytes without using lithium salts, but they could not rise above the mark of 200 Wh / L. Such batteries can also be used, but only in energy storage systems. For electric vehicles, such battery characteristics are not suitable.

Researchers have created several prototype batteries with aqueous electrolytes. When cadmium was used in the anode material, it turned out that after 300 discharge cycles, the battery capacity decreased to 78%. Display of vanadium instead of the anode “Battery durability matters” – it withstood 1000 discharge cycles without any significant loss of capacity.

Regarding the energy storage density shown by the aqueous electrolyte battery, in this parameter it surpassed even some batteries with solid state electrolytes. At the same time, it can be comparable in production cost to classic lithium batteries, which will be an undoubted improvement if the work reaches a commercial level.

“Our work shows that safe, high-energy water batteries are possible, offering an option for grid-connected energy storage and even developing electric vehicles. – he said in the work of scientists.