A promising new calcium-oxygen battery design can withstand up to 700 recharge cycles

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Forward-looking: Despite being a relatively rare element, lithium is still the king of materials when it comes to rechargeable battery technology. Calcium is 2,500 times more abundant than lithium, but it has so far been difficult to use in batteries that can work at room temperatures.

A team of Chinese researchers is proposing a novel design for calcium-oxygen (Ca-O2) batteries with higher efficiency, a technology that could one day replace lithium-ion batteries, bringing significant improvements for the environment. The technology isn't there yet, but the innovative solution conceived by the team can still be improved with further research efforts.

Calcium-oxygen batteries can theoretically provide high energy capacity, the study published in Nature says, but a rechargeable Ca-O2 battery that can operate at room temperature has not been achieved so far. The complex chemistry taking place between the two elements isn't stable enough, and the researchers had to find a new electrolyte to promote a more efficient energy charge-discharge cycle.

The team created a liquid-based electrolyte that could work with the two elements, accommodating both a "highly reductive Ca metal anode" and dioxygen (O2). The new battery relies on a highly reversible two-electron redox (a chemical reaction where the oxidation states of a reactant change), the researchers explain, which is able to form chemically reactive calcium peroxide (CaO2) as the discharge product.

After discovering a working CaO2-based chemical reaction, the team tried to adapt the new battery design to wearable electronics applications. The technology is stable in air even when bent from 0 to 180 degrees, and can be turned into flexible fibers. By using a commercial braiding machine, the researchers wove their technology into flexible battery textiles.

The new calcium-oxygen battery design could be used for next-generation wearable systems, the Chinese team says, providing a more sustainable alternative to lithium-based designs. Calcium batteries are expected to be cheaper and safer than li-ion batteries, while providing a "comparable" energy capacity at the same time.

However, the rechargeable calcium-oxygen battery is still in the proof-of-concept stage, and according to battery researcher Alexandre Ponrouch, it could be decades away from potential widespread use. These batteries still have a low energy efficiency, which means much more energy is needed to charge them compared to what they can deliver to a device.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101864-promising-new-calcium-oxygen-battery-design-can-withstand.html

 

[m4a4]

Ah, yet another "promising" piece of battery tech.

However with this one, my initial reaction is "Calcium oxygen? That sounds far more combustible (if it gets damaged) than usual" lol

 

[gamerk2]

Ah, yet another "promising" piece of battery tech.

However with this one, my initial reaction is "Calcium oxygen? That sounds far more combustible (if it gets damaged) than usual" lol

I think it falls into the "Better then Lithium" pile.

 

[yRaz]

I think it falls into the "Better then Lithium" pile.

Well calcium is abundant and cheap. If they can make them cheap enough then the fear if everyone having a $25,000 battery replacement total their car would be gone. What needs to happen is that battery tech needs to be cheap enough that it's the same cost as new tires everybfew years or a brake job. Some insurance companies won't cover EVs anymore because of the frequency at which these expensive repairs are required.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Ah, yet another "promising" piece of battery tech.

However with this one, my initial reaction is "Calcium oxygen? That sounds far more combustible (if it gets damaged) than usual" lol

More combustible, yes, but likely safer. Flood with with CO2 and a calcium fire should go out. Lithium fires, OTOH.....

Well calcium is abundant and cheap. If they can make them cheap enough then the fear if everyone having a $25,000 battery replacement total their car would be gone. What needs to happen is that battery tech needs to be cheap enough that it's the same cost as new tires everybfew years or a brake job. Some insurance companies won't cover EVs anymore because of the frequency at which these expensive repairs are required.

This would be viable IF said batteries could be effectively recycled. I fell like that will e a requirement anyway to keep the price down to a reasonable level. A $2500 battery every 100k miles is more palatable then a $25000 battery every 150k miles.

 

[Kashim]

Another battery tech that will go nowhere. Articles like this one are useless. It doesn't say anything about energy density which is the most important part followed by charging cycles, which need to be in the thousands not hundreds. So yeah, don't expect any calcium-oxygen batteries to power anything anytime soon.

 

[wiyosaya]

More combustible, yes, but likely safer. Flood with with CO2 and a calcium fire should go out. Lithium fires,

Sort of like this development - https://techxplore.com/news/2024-02-extinguishing-batteries-deadly-battery.html the difference being that this one IS ready for production.

Another battery tech that will go nowhere. Articles like this one are useless. It doesn't say anything about energy density which is the most important part followed by charging cycles, which need to be in the thousands not hundreds. So yeah, don't expect any calcium-oxygen batteries to power anything anytime soon.

Just because it hasn't happened yet does not mean it will never happen.
And while I'm at it here's another https://techxplore.com/news/2024-02-high-solid-polymer-electrolyte-voltage.html even if it's still lithium based.
Batteries, whether anyone believes it or not, will get better - in the fullness of time.

 

[mbk34]

It used to be that we'd get articles on future battery technologies only when a team manages to get it working in a lab. Now we get articles when it's at the proposal stage. I suppose the next stage of reporting will be when someone just has a vivid dream concerning some future tech.

The headline feature of 700 recharge cycles is also a bit meh as that's a fairly normal limit. Does that mean it still retains x% of it's capacity? Current vehicles equipped with LFP batteries allow 3000 recharge cycles and the batteries are fire safe unlike standard lithium.

An interesting article might be to compare grid storage "batteries" as there are loads of interesting, and very different, approaches to this (pumped hydro, Tesla megapacks, gravity systems, kinetic systems, liquid air, V2G etc). I've never seen an article explaining costs, capacity and the pros and cons of each.

 

[Endymio]

Flood with with CO2 and a calcium fire should go out. Lithium fires, OTOH.....

Lithium batteries burn so fiercely because their oxidizer is right there in the battery with them, atmospheric O2 or not. I wouldn't expect these calcium-based batteries to work any differently.

... there are loads of interesting, and very different, approaches to this (pumped hydro, Tesla megapacks, gravity systems, kinetic systems, liquid air, V2G etc). I've never seen an article explaining costs, capacity and the pros and cons of each.

The only one practical from a cost perspective at large scale is pumped hydro: effectively unlimited, and (except for evaporative losses from your reservoir) nearly 100% efficient. Kinetic systems have been used for decades-- but only for extremely short-term (~1 second) grid moderation. V2G might be considered "low cost" -- if consumers don't mind having their EV discharged without their knowledge, and battery cycle-life consumed.

 

[scavengerspc]

As soon as I read "A team of Chinese researchers" I stopped because this will probably be the last of it we hear from them.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

I'm taking bets on release of "promising new battery tech" vs fusion energy. Both are always 20 years away.