Scientists in India have developed flexible safe eco friendly batteries, according to the Department of Science and Technology there. A team from Center for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences in Bengaluru, India created a novel battery technology. This could become an alternative to lithium-ion batteries popular in phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and wearable devices, they say.
Technology for Flexible Safe Eco Friendly Batteries
The new technology from Bengaluru comprises aluminum and a water solution in a safer, cheaper, and more environmentally-friendly combination. This approach could avoid the explosions that do occasionally occur in lithium-ion batteries, and their environmental hazards too.
Intriguingly, the Indian Government claims the flexible safe eco friendly batteries could also “reduce the power requirements of our devices”. Aluminum and water are among Earth’s most abundant materials. Aluminum can also store and release energy efficiently.
Practical Problems Faced and Successfully Overcome
Despite this advantage, the researchers faced practical problems using the abundant chemical element, due to aluminum’s complex chemistry. However, they surmounted these issues by tweaking materials at microscopic levels, and these further innovations:
- A unique positive cathode electrode of copper hexacyanoferrate, pre-filled with aluminum ions.
- A positive anode made from molybdenum trioxide creating a powerful battery.
- This combination is not just effective. It is also flexible enough to bend without breaking.
The prototype flexible safe eco friendly batteries that emerged from this innovative approach, are proving practical too. The Indian Government report that we link to below reports that the battery maintains 96% of its power after 150 discharge / recharge cycles. This predicts long battery life.
Moreover – and this is where the official report becomes particularly interesting – the battery keeps working even when completely folded in half. This benefit could prove useful, when we are looking for flexible safe eco friendly batteries, that we can integrate into fabrics.
More Information
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Modified Aluminum Battery from Georgia Tech
Preview Image: Flexible Aqueous Aluminum-Ion Concept
