A research team formed by American and German scientists has announced that it has developed a new type of dual-ion battery. The positive and negative ions of this battery are all active metal elements. Its design avoids the use of rare or expensive metal materials in current lithium-ion batteries, and reduces the inherent risk of battery fire.
This dual-ion battery has shown good performance, and the researchers have also identified several areas that can improve its application performance; and pointed out that in the research to overcome the technical limitations of lithium-ion batteries, dual-ion batteries will become an alternative to lithium The main battery technology of ion batteries.
This kind of battery has the great potential of low material cost, safety and reliability, and high energy density. However, it is also found in research that it is difficult to overcome the stability and electrolyte performance problems at higher voltages. Despite this, dual-ion batteries are still a research project of interest to scientists, and this project jointly researched by a team of American and German scientists may further promote the development of this technology.
The research team`s scientists came from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Munster in Germany. They developed a "zinc-metal dual-ion battery" that consists of a zinc anode, a natural graphite cathode and a dual-ion salt solution.
The working principle of the battery is described in a paper titled "Using Natural Graphite to Produce High-Voltage Graphite Zinc Metal Double Ion Batteries" published in the "Advanced Energy Materials" magazine. In its performance test, the battery has a capacity of approximately 110 mAh/g with a continuous voltage of 2.5V and a charge/discharge current of 200mA/g. At a higher current of 2.5V and 5000 mA/g, its capacity drops to 60mAh/g. After 200 charge-discharge cycles, the battery retained 80% of its initial capacity.
The research team said that other results achieved in this work will further optimize performance. Ismael Rodriguez, a scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and lead author of the paper, explained, “In our research, we were able to successfully elucidate the basic mechanism of anion embedding in graphite in water-based systems through experimental work and computer simulations. Therefore, we have gained important insights into further research on dual-ion technology for grid-level energy storage."
The research team is confident that these optimizations can be achieved, and an experimental prototype of this battery can be developed into a battery with sufficient energy density for grid-scale energy storage applications. The group concluded, "It is clear that we still need to improve and optimize the performance of this battery. However, this work demonstrates a promising, intrinsically safe and cost-effective battery technology. Will be suitable for large-scale energy storage applications."