Greener ‘water batteries’ a step closer
Greener ‘water batteries’ a step closer
RMIT team develops method that could replace common lead-acid batteries, offering a safer and more recyclable alternative
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I see many "could" in the text, I have been burned by other articles claiming their specific thing will change established practicies for the better, most have failed.
Untill the tech has been proven useful I will remain sceptic
That's alright, fusion is only ten years away!
The year of the
Linux desktopfusion power!Hey, I thought it was the year of grapheme solving everything.
I think the comparisons against lithium ion are a bit pie in the sky, however they've apparently solved a number of issues that face lead acid batteries, eg dendrite formation and charge cycles (they did 500-700 with a reduction to 80% capacity, whereas lead acid typically can only do about 350 cycles). Zinc is typically much worse than lead acid for dendrites, but their bismuth oxide layer might make it perform better than lead acid.
Even so, I'm skeptical that such a process could be commercialised and compete with lead acid on cost. The way they seem to target their comparisons towards lithium batteries further suggests this.
Maybe there is some niche where lithium is overkill and this could be viable, though, who knows. BESS on the electrical network is massively growing, so there's probably some scope for people to try this there also - especially with regards to fire risk, which some people (particularly planning authorities) are getting nervous about.
The full paper can be found for free here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202400237. It has smiley faces in the diagrams.
You should quadruple your skeptism if it has anything to do with battery technology.