Imagine a battery electrolyte we could eat as tofu, although we won’t recommend it. Before you ask, tofu is a staple cheese-like Chinese food derived from pressing curds of thickened soy milk. Scientists from several Chinese universities produced this sideshow, while developing an environmentally harmless liquid electrolyte.
Why We Need Battery Electrolyte We Could Drink
We say this one more time. Please don’t ever eat, drink, or swallow anything that’s not a regular food or drink. The Chinese scientist’s goal was to create a liquid battery electrolyte that was neither strongly acidic, nor strongly alkaline.
And they had good reason to do this too. You see, strongly acidic and strongly alkaline materials conflict with the natural order, and upset the chemical balance in our environment.
The new organic polymer electrolyte with a pH rating of 7.0, was at the midpoint of the 0 – 14 acidic-alkaline scale. To quote the research report we link to below, the product worked well, was ‘environmentally benign’, and could even be used in tofu production.
This battery electrolyte we could eat appears to have great potential for manganese and calcium batteries. A prototype produced 2.2 volts, exhibited good storage capacity, and survived 120,000 recharge, discharge cycles.
A ‘Water Battery’ That Could Keep Going For Decades
Interesting Engineering headlines this discovery as a ‘breakthrough … that could outlast lithium-ion by decades’. No wonder the Chinese scientists provided an unedited version to give early access to their findings.
Relatively powerful, long-lasting batteries with water-based, non flammable electrolytes, could replace lithium-ion if they reached the market. Previous efforts have only exhibited disappointingly short operating lives.
Hence, we can say with some confidence, that this aqueous battery electrolyte we could eat (but ought not to) appears to be an enormous leap forward. The research continues and we can’t wait to learn more.
More Information
Polymer Electrode for Water-Based Batteries
New Water-Based Battery Trounces Lithium
Preview Image: City University of Hong Kong
