The aluminum ion batteries, environmentally friendly and highly safe, have garnered a lot of interest. However, the extensive use of expensive electrolytes, high sensitivity to moisture, and severe corrosion of the aluminum anode have limited their commercial application.
Now, researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing University of Science and Technology, and Lanzhou University of Technology have introduced a new aluminum ion battery that has demonstrated an exceptionally long lifespan thanks to a newly developed electrolyte.
Advances in electrolytes and their impact
The team added an inert aluminum fluoride salt to an electrolyte containing aluminum ions, turning it into a solid-state electrolyte. The aluminum fluoride salt has a three-dimensional porous structure, allowing aluminum ions to move easily through the electrolyte and increase conductivity.
They also used fluoroethylene carbonate as an interface additive to create a thin solid layer on the electrodes and prevent the formation of aluminum crystals that degrade the battery’s health.
The battery’s moisture resistance was improved, as well as its physical and thermal stability, allowing it to withstand repeated impacts from a sharp object and temperatures of up to 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
Durability and sustainability of the new batteries
The solid-state aluminum ion battery cells demonstrated an exceptionally long lifespan, lasting 10,000 charge cycles with an average Coulombic efficiency of over 99%.
Additionally, up to 80% of the aluminum fluoride could be recovered with a simple wash and then recycled into another battery with slightly decreased performance, the researchers reported.
“This new design of aluminum ion battery shows the potential for a durable, cost-effective, and highly safe energy storage system. The ability to recover and recycle key materials makes the technology more sustainable,” says Wei Wang, one of the lead researchers.
The researchers add that further improvements in energy density and lifecycle are needed before commercialization.
Their findings are discussed in the article “A recyclable inert inorganic structure-assisted solid-state electrolyte for long-lasting aluminum ion batteries” published in ACS Publications.
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