Introduce the development and application of four metal air batteries

At present, metal air batteries that have made research progress mainly include aluminum air batteries, magnesium air batteries, zinc air batteries, and lithium air batteries. Some of these types of metal-air batteries already have large-scale mass production conditions, some of which are still in the laboratory stage, and some have already achieved good application results in electric vehicles, and will soon be loaded with new energy vehicles on a large scale.

A metal air battery is a special fuel cell that uses metal as a fuel to generate electrical energy by redox reaction with oxygen in the air.

Metal air batteries use active metal as the anode, which has many advantages such as safety, environmental protection and high energy density. It has good development and application prospects, and even has high hopes to replace the main power battery type of the current new energy vehicles - lithium-ion power batteries.

For the production of metal air batteries, the available raw materials are quite abundant. At present, metal air batteries that have made research progress mainly include aluminum air batteries, magnesium air batteries, zinc air batteries, and lithium air batteries. Some of these types of metal-air batteries already have large-scale mass production conditions, some of which are still in the laboratory stage, and some have already achieved good application results in electric vehicles, and will soon be loaded with new energy vehicles on a large scale.

This article will introduce the development and application of several metal air batteries mentioned above.

First, aluminum air battery

1.       Working principle

The aluminum air battery has high purity aluminum Al (containing 99.99% aluminum) as a negative electrode, oxygen as a positive electrode, and an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as an electrolyte. Aluminum takes up oxygen in the air, produces a chemical reaction when the battery is discharged, and converts aluminum and oxygen into aluminum oxide.

2.Characteristics

The aluminum air battery is non-toxic, harmless, non-polluting, and can be recycled and recycled.

For electric vehicles, aluminum air batteries are characterized by light weight and high specific energy. The data show that the theoretical specific energy of aluminum air battery can reach 8100Wh/kg, the current actual specific energy is about 350Wh/kg, which is 2.3 times that of lithium battery, 6 times that of nickel-hydrogen battery and 7 times that of lead-acid battery.

This kind of battery can obviously help to reduce the weight of the car and increase the cruising range.

3. Progress in research and development and application

Foreign:

According to relevant information, in the electric vehicles using aluminum air batteries in California, there has been a record of replacing the aluminum electrode with a driving range of 1600 km.

Alcoa Canada and Israeli company Phinergy's new 100 kilogram aluminum air battery stores enough electricity to drive 3,000 kilometers.

Domestic:

Yun Aluminum Co., Ltd. and Kunming Metallurgical Research Institute jointly invested in the establishment of Chuangneng Aluminum Air Battery Co., Ltd. to invest in aluminum-air battery research and development projects. At present, the Chuangneng aluminum air battery research and development project is progressing.

China Power and PHINERGY have established a joint venture to promote aluminum air batteries in electric vehicles such as buses, coaches, logistics vehicles and sport utility vehicles. It is planned to be promoted in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.

Second, the magnesium air battery

1, working principle

2, characteristics

High energy density, high theoretical voltage, clean and safe, magnesium is abundant in reserves and has a cost advantage.

Magnesium air batteries have an energy density 10 times that of lithium batteries of equal weight.

The disadvantage is that the reaction efficiency of the magnesium anode is low and the response of the air cathode is slow. Although the battery can store a lot of energy, the conversion of energy into actual power is very limited.

3. Progress in research and development and application

Foreign:

According to reports, an electric car equipped with a complete magnesium air battery developed in Korea can successfully travel 800 kilometers, which is four times the average cruising range of current lithium battery power vehicles.

A number of Japanese institutions including Furukawa Battery, Nikon, Nissan Motor, Japan Tohoku University, and Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and other government research institutes and government departments are actively promoting the large-capacity research of magnesium air batteries.

Japan's AguaPower has successfully developed and commercialized magnesium air batteries, and has now registered 16 patents.

Domestic:

The Ningbo lithium battery Engineering Laboratory successfully developed a 1000Wh magnesium air battery prototype.

1000Wh magnesium air battery prototype demonstration

The battery is composed of five single cells connected in series, with AZ31 magnesium alloy as anode, 10% NaCl solution as electrolyte, and air diffusion electrode and manganese oxide catalyst as cathode. The appearance of the magnesium air battery is 200×150×150mm3, the weight is 2.3kg, the energy density can reach 430Wh/kg, and the maximum output power can reach 80W.

The magnesium air battery produced by company uses water as the electrolyte and its own LED lights can be continuously illuminated for 90 to 100 hours, and can charge 20 smartphones at a time. This magnesium air battery is used as an emergency power source.

Third, zinc air battery

1. Working principle

Zinc air battery, also known as zinc-oxygen battery, uses activated carbon to adsorb oxygen or pure oxygen in the air as the positive electrode active material, zinc as the negative electrode, and ammonium chloride or caustic solution as the electrolyte.

Anode: Zn2OH–→ZnOH2O2e–

Cathode: O22H2O4e–→4OH–

Synthesis: 2ZnO2→2ZnO

2. Characteristics

It has a higher specific energy and can reach 340Wh/kg. Safety, stable discharge performance and low cost. The weight is 50% of the lithium battery, the driving range is 200% of the lithium battery, and the initial installation price is about 40% of the lithium battery.

3. Progress in research and development and application

Foreign:

Dr. Chen Zhongwei from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and his team have made significant progress.

Domestic:

The “Zinc Air Battery Project for Vehicles” was included in the National 863 Major Science and Technology Special Project.

A domestic zinc-air battery manufacturing company and a whole vehicle manufacturer plan to launch 500 12-meter pure electric buses with zinc-air batteries this year. The total cost of the vehicle is one million, and the battery price is about 400,000.

According to the plan, the company will produce zinc aerodynamic batteries for 3,000 electric vehicles in 2017.

Fourth, lithium air battery

1. Working principle

Lithium-air batteries use lithium as the anode and oxygen in the air as the cathode. During discharge, the lithium of the anode releases electrons and becomes lithium cation (Li+). Li+ passes through the electrolyte material, and combines with oxygen and electrons flowing from the external circuit to form lithium oxide (Li2O) or lithium peroxide (Li2O2). And stay at the cathode. The open circuit voltage of the lithium air battery is 2.91V.

2. Characteristics

Lithium-air batteries have 10 times more energy than lithium-ion batteries, and are smaller and lighter. The downside is that it is still in the laboratory stage, and it takes about 10 years to achieve commercialization.

3. Progress in research and development and application

Foreign:

The lithium-air battery developed by the University of Cambridge in the UK can be recharged more than 2,000 times. The battery theoretically uses more than 90% energy.

In 2009, Japanese research institutes developed a new high-capacity lithium-air battery.

The IBM Almaden ReseachCenter is conducting research on lithium-air batteries, and two companies, Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd. and Central Glass Co., Ltd., participated in the project. The research team plans to achieve mass production and promotion of lithium-air batteries by 2020

Domestic.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully developed a lithium-air battery cell.

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