A team Of researchers in Sweden has developed a low-cost zinc battery that could revolutionize the energy market. Made with materials abundant like zinc and lignin, a by-product of the paper industry, this battery promises to maintain 80% of its performance even after 8,000 charging cycles.
A sustainable energy solution
With more and more adoption widespread of renewable energy solutions such as wind and solar energy, the demand for energy storage solutions is growing. Currentlythese solutions are mainly supplied by lithium batteries, which present both environmental and human rights problems due to the difficulties in extracting the necessary materials.
Lithium batteries are not easy to recycle, making them unsustainable in the long run. In this context, the batteries to zinc they could to represent a turning point. Zinc batteries are already widely used, but so far only for non-rechargeable applications. The solutions lithium-based, although more efficient in terms of energy density, pose fire and explosion risks.
The contribution of Swedish researchers
Researchers from Linköping University, Karlstad University and Chalmers University collaborated to develop a battery that uses zinc And lignin. “Our sustainable battery offers a promising alternative where energy density is not critical,” says Ziyauddin Khan, one of the researchers involved in the project.
The main obstacle to the widespread use of zinc batteries is the reactivity of zinc with water in the electrolyte, which leads to training of hydrogen gas and yields unusable the zinc in the battery. For overcome this problem, the researchers used a particular electrolyte called water-in-polymer-salt electrolyte (WiPSE), demonstrating that the stability of zinc may be increased.
Benefits for low-income countries
Zinc-lignin batteries are cheap and easily recyclable. According to Khan,
“Both zinc and lignin are super cheap, and the battery is easily recyclable. If you calculate the cost per usage cycle, it becomes a battery extremely economical compared to batteries lithium.”
This new battery can hold a charge for a week, unlike other zinc batteries which discharge in a few hours. Furthermore, the battery is stable and maintains 80% of its performance even afterwards 8,000 charging cycles.
Technology, although currently developed in small size, it can be easily scaled up to the size of a car battery. In terms of density energythe batteries they would be comparable to lead-acid batteries, but without toxic components, making them more environmentally friendly.
Battery: the future of renewable energy
Reverant Crispin, professor of organic electronics at Linköping University, emphasizes the importance of rendering available this low-cost technology in low-income countries.
“When they build their infrastructure, they need to start now with there green technology. If unsustainable technology is introduced, it will be used by billions of people, leading to a climate catastrophe,” he explains Crispin.
The research findings were published in the journal Energy & Environmental Materials.
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