Aqueous solution lithium-ion battery technology achieves breakthrough

　　Today, lithium-ion batteries are getting faster to charge and higher in performance, but they are also getting more expensive and more flammable.

　　In a recent study published in Energy Storage Materials, a team of engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic University demonstrated how they were able to assemble safer and lower-cost electrolytes by using aqueous electrolytes instead of typical organic electrolytes. battery, and battery performance is still good.

　　Aqueous electrolytes have non-flammable properties and because, unlike non-aqueous electrolytes, they are not sensitive to moisture during the manufacturing process, making them easy to use and cheap. The biggest challenge with aqueous electrolytes is maintaining performance.

　　"If you apply too much voltage to the water, the water will be electrolyzed, breaking out the hydrogen and oxygen. That's a problem," said Nikhil Koratkar, a professor of mechanical, special aerospace and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer. If you choose to vent, you consume the electrolyte, so typically the voltage window for this material is very limited."

　　For this study, Koratkar and his team used a special type of water electrolyte called water-in-salt electrolyte, which is less likely to be electrolyzed.

　　For the cathode, the researchers used lithium manganate, and for the anode, they used niobium tungsten oxide. Professor Koratkar said this type of composite oxide has never been seen in aqueous lithium-ion batteries before.

　　"It turns out that niobium tungsten oxide is very good at storing energy per unit volume," Koratkar said. "In terms of volume, this is the best result we've seen so far in an aqueous lithium-ion battery."

　　He explains that niobium tungsten oxide is relatively heavy and dense. This weight makes the mass-based energy storage capacity of niobium tungsten oxide close to average, while the dense packing of niobium tungsten particles in the electrode makes the volume-based energy storage capacity of niobium tungsten oxide quite good. The material's crystal structure also has well-defined channels that allow lithium ions to diffuse quickly, meaning fast charging.

　　The ability to charge quickly and store a large amount of charge per unit volume is rare among aqueous lithium-ion batteries, Koratkar said.

　　For emerging applications, such as portable electronics, electric vehicles, and shed storage, the ability to store maximum energy in limited capacity becomes critical. Such a safer, cheaper, and high-performance battery is ideal for lithium-ion applications. It has actual practical significance. Editor in charge: wv

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