From electric vehicles to storage of power generated by the likes of solar and wind turbines, batteries are an increasingly crucial component. While lithium-ion is the current technology of choice, concerns about price and the availability of materials have prompted the search for alternatives.
That’s where researchers at the University of Waterloo come in. Earlier this month, they published a paper outlining a breakthrough in magnesium batteries using a new electrolyte design.
Researchers Linda Nazar, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Chang Li, a postdoctoral fellow in the Nazar Group, see the possibilities of a new generation of batteries.
Researchers have attempted to create a magnesium battery since 2000, following the publication of initial finding.But earlier efforts weren’t able to compete against the current lithium design.
“Lithium-ion batteries are not going to get replaced anytime soon because they’re very good batteries. They store a lot of energy, which is stored effectively in the electrons. However, there is a concern about the cost of lithium in the future,” said Nazar to The Observer of the impetus for her research.
Nazar and her colleagues have been working on this particular design for more than a year, and were happy to find success with it.
The original design for a magnesium battery operated at only one volt, which was less than a standard AA battery (1.5 volts). This new magnesium design operated at three volts, with room to go even higher with improvements to the design’s cathode.
“The electrolyte we developed allows us to deposit magnesium foils with extremely high efficiency, and it is stable to a higher voltage than successfully tested before,” said Li in the release. “All we need now is the right cathode to bring it together.”
Their success in creating an electrolyte now leaves the door open for researchers to focus on finding a better cathode (positive side) for this new electrolyte. Nazar and Li’s cathode worked but was not perfect.
Other successful attempts have made these batteries, but the expensive materials would make it difficult to scale up.
That’s what makes Li and Nazar’s new design such a big step: it is inexpensive and could eventually scale quickly for the next generation of battery, they say.
“Magnesium is quite inexpensive and extremely abundant. So, regarding sustainability and mining and all of these things we’re concerned about, it offers tremendous promise, but still challenges.”
This new electrolyte is also non-flammable and non-corrosive, which was a problem with past designs.
“This is another big step on the road towards commercializing a functional magnesium battery,” said Nazar in the release. “We hope our work will open a door for us, or someone else, to discover and develop the right positive electrode to complete the magnesium battery puzzle.”