Chemists at the University of Waterloo have developed a long-lasting zinc-ion battery that costs half the price of current lithium-ion batteries and could help enable communities to shift away from traditional power plants and into renewable solar and wind energy production.
Professor Linda Nazar and her colleagues from the Faculty of Science at Waterloo made the important discovery, which appears in the journal, Nature Energy.
The battery uses safe, non-flammable, non-toxic materials and a pH-neutral, water-based salt. It consists of a water-based electrolyte, a pillared vanadium oxide positive electrode and an inexpensive metallic zinc negative electrode. The battery generates electricity through a reversible process called intercalation, where positively-charged zinc ions are oxidized from the zinc metal negative electrode, travel through the electrolyte and insert between the layers of vanadium oxide nanosheets in the positive electrode. This drives the flow of electrons in the external circuit, creating an electrical current. The reverse process occurs on charge.
The cell represents the first demonstration of zinc ion intercalation in a solid state material that satisfies four vital criteria: high reversibility, rate and capacity and no zinc dendrite formation. It provides more than 1,000 cycles with 80 per cent capacity retention and an estimated energy density of 450 watt-hours per litre. Lithium-ion batteries also operate by intercalation—of lithium ions—but they typically use expensive, flammable, organic electrolytes.
“The worldwide demand for sustainable energy has triggered a search for a reliable, low-cost way to store it,” said Nazar, a Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials and a University Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry. “The aqueous zinc-ion battery we’ve developed is ideal for this type of application because it’s relatively inexpensive and it’s inherently safe.”
The global market for energy storage is expected to grow to $25 billion in the next 10 years. The bonus for manufacturers is they can produce this zinc battery at low cost because its fabrication does not require special conditions, such as ultra-low humidity or the handling of flammable materials needed for lithium ion batteries.
“The focus used to be on minimizing size and weight for the portable electronics market and cars,” said Dipan Kundu, a postdoctoral fellow in Nazar’s lab and the paper’s first author. “Grid storage needs a different kind of battery and that’s given us license to look into different materials.”
Water in the electrolyte not only facilitates the movement of zinc ions, it also swells the space between the sheets, like tiers of a wedding cake, giving the zinc just enough room to enter and leave the positive structure as the battery cycles. The electrode material’s nano-scale dimensions and the battery’s high-conductivity aqueous electrolyte also improve its cycling life and response times.
Together with researchers at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research in the U.S., Nazar’s team is also investigating multivalent ion intercalation batteries based on Mg2+ in non-aqueous electrolytes. They were the first to report highly reversible Mg cycling in the TiS2 thiospinel and layered sulfides, which represent the first new highly functional Mg insertion materials reported in more than 15 years. Their papers appeared in Energy & Environmental Science and ACS Energy Letters earlier this year.
Learn more: Waterloo chemists develop promising cheap, sustainable battery for grid energy storage
The Latest on: Grid energy storage
[google_news title=”” keyword=”grid energy storage” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Grid energy storage
- Electricity storage facility next to Anoki restaurant on A38 could power 324,000 homes for two hourson May 3, 2024 at 2:42 am
Use precise geolocation data and actively scan device characteristics for identification. This is done to store and access information on a device and to provide personalised ads and content, ad and ...
- Kentucky must update its energy infrastructure to power a brighter future, economic developmenton May 3, 2024 at 2:37 am
Kentucky has been a leading energy producer and vital to America’s energy security but in recent years has fallen short due to our aging energy infrastructure. Building and maintaining critical ...
- Grid balancing generates income for EV charging infrastructureon May 3, 2024 at 2:36 am
The rapid development of EV charging infrastructure is expensive and time-consuming. There are some solutions to ease the burden on commercial EV fleet ...
- V2G: modelling how EV batteries can provide storage to the gridon May 3, 2024 at 12:00 am
V2G (vehicle-to-grid) technology allows parked EVs to store and/or inject electricity into the grid when needed. The main benefit is to avoid the expense and disruption of building dedicated ...
- Making the power grid 'smart' could save us all money and prevent blackouts. Chattanooga made the $280 million investment.on May 2, 2024 at 2:00 pm
The electric grid in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is one of the smartest in the nation. It's a peek at the ultraresilient power system of the future.
- Habitat Energy chosen to optimize 730 MW ERCOT battery storage portfolioon May 2, 2024 at 10:09 am
To help manage battery storage and renewable energy assets, Habitat Energy signed an agreement with UBS Asset Management’s Real Estate & Private Markets business to optimize battery storage assets in ...
- A Major Technology for Long-Duration Energy Storage Is Approaching Its Moment of Truthon May 2, 2024 at 6:00 am
Hydrostor Inc., a leader in compressed air energy storage, aims to break ground on its first large plant by the end of this year.
- Energy Storage: A New Asset Class Buyers Of Power Should Consider Investing Inon May 1, 2024 at 8:00 am
Investing in energy storage doesn’t just provide a pathway for reducing carbon emissions; it’s also a pathway for potential savings on electricity and energy costs.
- Nevada put big battery energy storage where a coal plant used to beon April 29, 2024 at 4:31 pm
Nevada utility NV Energy's largest battery energy storage system sits on a former coal-fired power plant site and will save customers a lot of money.
- California set for solar, storage surge in zonal grid planon April 25, 2024 at 5:05 am
California identifies key development zones in its latest grid plan that will intensify competition and help whittle out speculative projects, market experts said.
via Bing News