An Affordable and Sustainable Alternative to Lithium-Ion Batteries
upstart writes:
Findings could pave the way for a cost-efficient, high-performing calcium-ion battery:
Concerns regarding scarcity, high prices, and safety regarding the long-term use of lithium-ion batteries has prompted a team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to propose a greener, more efficient, and less expensive energy storage alternative.
[...] "The vast majority of rechargeable battery products are based on lithium-ion technology, which is the gold standard in terms of performance," said Dr. Koratkar. "However, the Achilles' heel for lithium-ion technology is cost. Lithium is a limited resource on the planet, and its price has increased drastically in recent years. We are working on an inexpensive, abundant, safe, and sustainable battery chemistry that uses calcium ions in an aqueous, water-based electrolyte."
[...] The team demonstrated that calcium ions can be rapidly inserted and extracted from the material, with these tunnels acting as "conduits" for reversible and fast ion transport and the findings indicate that MoVO provides one of the best performances reported to date for the storage of calcium ions.
"Calcium-ion batteries might one day, in the not-so-distant future, replace lithium-ion technology as the battery chemistry of choice that powers our society," explains Dr. Koratkar. "This work can lead of a new class of high-performing calcium-based batteries that use Earth abundant and safe materials and are therefore affordable and sustainable. Such batteries could find widespread use in portable and consumer electronics, electric vehicles, as well as grid and renewable energy storage."
Journal Reference:
Aniruddha S. Lakhnot, Kevin Bhimani, Varad Mahajani, et al., Reversible and rapid calcium intercalation into molybdenum vanadium oxides, PNAS, 2022. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2205762119
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