Calcium rechargeable batteries, a real possibility closer – La Jornada (Bolivia)

Calcium, a much more abundant and cheaper than the lithium element can be used to manufacture rechargeable batteries, something unthinkable until now, according to a study by the Spanish Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).

The study, published in the journal Nature Materials, was conducted by scientists from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB) in collaboration with the European subsidiary of Toyota, which also funded the research.

Ordered by energy density, that is, its power, the batteries used in the world can be made with lead, the oldest, widespread and known technology, present in almost all starters cars -, nickel and lithium, which are the most modern and powerful. Rechargeable batteries are mostly used in three areas: portable electronics (phones or tablets), starter motors cars, and electrical networks (power generation plants or renewable energies, especially). “The use of one or other technology depends on the applications because not all batteries are equal and serve for all,” he told Efe the study’s lead author, Dr. Maria Rosa Palacín ICMAB. For electronics, for example, “wanted to be light but last a short time, while those used in plants for power generation can be heavy but high densities of energy, long life, low cost”, however, science continues to seek higher energy densities, and that happens to investigate new materials such as magnesium and sodium, which are already well studied by scientists of many nationalities. The study by researchers ICMAB refutes the idea that calcium is not used to manufacture rechargeable batteries. The team showed that “calcium may be used as the negative electrode in rechargeable high energy density.” “Although until now it believed that calcium metal electrodes were not viable, our observations indicate that they are together and that are compatible with electrolytes commonly used in lithium ion technology,” he said. The next step is to find the appropriate positive electrodes, but “the hardest thing is done, and we are very happy about it. We made a rechargeable battery with an energy superpower calcium significantly superior to lithium, and with a material more sustainable, cheap, and abundant and whose preparation is much easier, “he said. The work, in fact, already has two European patents. “From now direct our efforts to the development of positive electrode materials operating at high potential to lead to batteries high energy density,” he said.