MSGID: 1:317/3 642cf977   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Major storage capacity in water-based batteries    
      
     Date:   
         April 4, 2023   
     Source:   
         Texas A&M University   
     Summary:   
         Chemical engineers have discovered a 1,000% difference in the   
         storage capacity of metal-free, water-based battery electrodes.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered a 1,000% difference   
   in the storage capacity of metal-free, water-based battery electrodes.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   These batteries are different from lithium-ion batteries that contain   
   cobalt.   
      
   The group's goal of researching metal-free batteries stems from having   
   better control over the domestic supply chain since cobalt and lithium   
   are outsourced.   
      
   This safer chemistry would also prevent battery fires.   
      
   Chemical engineering professor Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus and chemistry   
   assistant professor Dr. Daniel Tabor has published their findings about   
   lithium-free batteries in Nature Materials.   
      
   "There would be no battery fires anymore because it's water-based,"   
   Lutkenhaus said. "In the future, if materials shortages are projected,   
   the price of lithium-ion batteries will go way up. If we have this   
   alternative battery, we can turn to this chemistry, where the supply   
   is much more stable because we can manufacture them here in the United   
   States and materials to make them are here."  Lutkenhaus said aqueous   
   batteries consist of a cathode, electrolyte and an anode. The cathodes   
   and anodes are polymers that can store energy, and the electrolyte is   
   water mixed with organic salts. The electrolyte is key to ion conduction   
   and energy storage through its interactions with the electrode.   
      
   "If an electrode swells too much during cycling, then it can't conduct   
   electrons very well, and you lose all the performance," she said. "I   
   believe that there is a 1,000% difference in energy storage capacity,   
   depending on the electrolyte choice because of swelling effects."   
   According to their article, redox-active, non-conjugated radical   
   polymers (electrodes) are promising candidates for metal-free aqueous   
   batteries because of the polymers' high discharge voltage and fast redox   
   kinetics. The reaction is complex and difficult to resolve because of   
   the simultaneous transfer of electrons, ions and water molecules.   
      
   "We demonstrate the nature of the redox reaction by examining aqueous   
   electrolytes of varying chao-/kosmotropic character using electrochemical   
   quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring at a range of   
   timescales," according to researchers in the article.   
      
   Tabor's research group complemented the experimental efforts with   
   computational simulation and analysis. The simulations gave insights into   
   the microscopic molecular-scale picture of the structure and dynamics.   
      
   "Theory and experiment often work closely together to understand these   
   materials. One of the new things that we do computationally in this paper   
   is that we actually charge up the electrode to multiple states of charge   
   and see how the surroundings respond to this charging," Tabor said.   
      
   Researchers macroscopically observed if the battery cathode was working   
   better in the presence of certain kinds of salts through measuring exactly   
   how much water and salt is going into the battery as it is operating.   
      
   "We did that to explain what has been observed experimentally," he   
   said. "Now, we would like to expand our simulations to future systems. We   
   needed to have our theory confirmed of what are the forces that are   
   driving that kind of injection of water and solvent.   
      
   "With this new energy storage technology, this is a push forward to   
   lithium- free batteries. We have a better molecular level picture of what   
   makes some battery electrodes work better than others, and this gives us   
   strong evidence of where to go forward in materials design," Tabor said.   
      
   The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National   
   Science Foundation through the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Batteries # Fuel_Cells # Energy_and_Resources #   
                   Chemistry # Nature_of_Water # Inorganic_Chemistry #   
                   Energy_Technology # Materials_Science   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Fuel_cell o Silver o Indium o Sodium o Hafnium o   
             Battery_electric_vehicle o Bismuth o Chemical_bond   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Texas_A&M_University. Original   
   written by Raven Wuebker.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Ting Ma, Cheng-Han Li, Ratul Mitra Thakur, Daniel P. Tabor, Jodie L.   
      
         Lutkenhaus. The role of the electrolyte in non-conjugated radical   
         polymers for metal-free aqueous energy storage electrodes. Nature   
         Materials, 2023; 22 (4): 495 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01518-z   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230404114200.htm   
      
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