
Researchers from the University of Houston and the Toyota Research Institute of North America have reported a breakthrough in the development of magnesium batteries, allowing them to deliver a power density comparable to that of lithium-ion batteries.
New Cathode, Electrolyte Allow High-Power Battery Previously Considered impossible
Magnesium batteries have long been considered a potentially safer and less expensive alternative to lithium-ion batteries, but previous versions have been severely limited in the power they delivered.
Researchers from the University of Houston and the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) report in Nature Energy that they have developed a new cathode and electrolyte – previously the limiting factors for a high-energy magnesium battery – to demonstrate a magnesium battery capable of operating at room temperature and delivering a power density comparable to that offered by lithium-ion batteries.
As the need for grid-scale energy storage and other applications becomes more pressing, researchers have sought less expensive and more readily available alternatives to lithium.
Magnesium ions hold twice the charge of lithium, while having a similar ionic radius. As a result, magnesium dissociation from electrolytes and its diffusion in the electrode, two essential processes that take place in classical intercalation cathodes, are sluggish at room temperature, leading to the low power performance.
One approach to addressing these challenges is to improve the chemical reactions at elevated temperatures. The other circumvents the difficulties by storing magnesium cation in its complex forms. Neither approach is practical.
Yan Yao, Cullen Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston and co-corresponding author for the paper, said the groundbreaking results came from combining both an organic quinone cathode and a new tailored boron cluster-based electrolyte solution.
“We demonstrated a heterogeneous enolization redox chemistry to create a cathode which is not hampered by the ionic dissociation and solid-state diffusion challenges that have prevented magnesium batteries from operating efficiently at room temperature,” Yao said. “This new class of redox chemistry bypasses the need of solid-state intercalation while solely storing magnesium, instead of its complex forms, creating a new paradigm in magnesium battery electrode design.”
Yao, who is also a principle investigator with the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH (TcSUH), is a leader in the development of multivalent metal-ion batteries. His group recently published a review article in Nature Energy on the roadmap to better multivalent batteries.
TRINA researchers have made tremendous advancements in the magnesium battery field, including developing highly recognized, efficient electrolytes based on boron cluster anions. However, these electrolytes had limitations in supporting high battery cycling rates.
“We had hints that electrolytes based on these weakly coordinating anions in principle could have the potential to support very high cycling rates, so we worked on tweaking their properties,” said Rana Mohtadi, a Principal Scientist in the materials research department at TRINA and co-corresponding author. “We tackled this by turning our attention to the solvent in order to reduce its binding to the magnesium ions and improve the bulk transport kinetics.”
“We were fascinated that the magnesium plated from the modified electrolyte remained smooth even under ultrahigh cycling rates. We believe this unveils a new facet in magnesium battery electrochemistry.”
The work is in part a continuation of earlier efforts described in 2018 in Joule and involved many of the same researchers. In addition to Yao and Mohtadi, coauthors include first authors Hui Dong, formerly a member of Yao’s lab and now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, and Oscar Tutusaus of TRINA; Yanliang Liang and Ye Zhang of UH and TcSUH; and Zachary Lebens-Higgins and Wanli Yang of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Lebens-Higgins also is affiliated with the Binghamton University.
“The new battery is nearly two orders of magnitude higher than the power density achieved by previous magnesium batteries,” Dong said. “The battery was able to continue operating for over 200 cycles with around 82% capacity retention, showing high stability. We can further improve cycling stability by tailoring the properties of the membrane with enhanced intermediate trapping capability.”
Tutusaus said the work suggests the next steps toward high-performance magnesium batteries.
“Our results set the direction for developing high-performance cathode materials and electrolyte solutions for magnesium batteries and unearth new possibilities for using energy-dense metals for fast energy storage,” he said.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Magnesium battery
- Best High-Magnesium Foods and Supplements for Sleep
This article is based on reporting that features expert sources. Support Sleep With Magnesium Does anything feel better than getting a good, solid night’s sleep? Possibly not, but sadly ...
- Thank Magnesium For Water-Activated Batteries
They all use a magnesium anode, and rely on aqueous solutions as the electrolyte. Typical selections involve fresh water or seawater, though custom preparations can be used to vary the battery’s ...
- Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms: 6 Major Signs You Should Not Ignore
But another important nutrient is Magnesium. Magnesium is one of the common minerals in the human body. The body needs magnesium for a wide range of processes, including muscle and nerve function ...
- Magnesium Myths vs.Facts
It's senior year in high school, and your science teacher has just given you a thin ribbon of magnesium along with instructions to ignite the strip. You watch as the strip burns rapidly with a ...
- Might Magnesium Replace Lithium?
Magnesium has several other advantages over lithium in battery applications. Each magnesium atom releases two electrons during the battery discharge phase, compared to one electron for lithium. This ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Magnesium battery
[google_news title=”” keyword=”magnesium battery” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Energy-dense metals
- 24M receives DoE grant to develop next-generation high energy density lithium metal anode cells
By incorporating a lithium metal anode and SemiSolid cathode, 24M plans to create batteries that offer superior power, improved energy density and lower costs for electric aviation applications. The ...
- Li-S Energy’s Lithium-Sulfur Cells Achieve 540 Wh/l Energy Density
The Australian company says its new 20-layer lithium-sulfur battery cells are safer, lighter and pack more energy.
- A ‘Dirty’ Job That Few Want: Mining Companies Struggle to Hire for the Energy Transition
Young people are turning their noses up at skilled positions like engineers and geologists in an industry beset by an aging workforce.
- Hydrogen Is Ramping Up In The Energy Transition, But It May Be Oversold
A hydrogen industry may take a large bite out of the 5-7% hard-to-abate emissions of global energy by 2050, but the biggest chunk of emissions still remains: 93-95%.
- Using TMDs for High Energy Density Batteries
These materials have a layered structure with two hexagonal planes of chalcogen atoms separated by a layer of transition metal atoms. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2) is the most extensively researched ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Energy-dense metals
[google_news title=”” keyword=”energy-dense metals” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]