A new battery has been concocted using cost-effective materials like sodium and magnesium could bring the cost of storing power from renewable sources more affordable.
The new device’s energy density was also found close to that of lithium-ion batteries.
Storing electric power from wind and sun for days when the air is still or the sun is down remains a challenge, largely because of cost, Science Daily website reported.
Today, lithium-ion batteries are the storage technology of choice for many applications, from electric cars to smartphones.
To make larger-scale energy storage more accessible, Maksym V. Kovalenko and colleagues wanted to develop an affordable alternative to lithium-ion.
The researchers started with magnesium as the battery’s safe, inexpensive and high-energy density anode material and paired it with pyrite, which is made of iron and sulphur, as the cathode.
The electrolyte the electrically conducting component contains sodium and magnesium ions.
It could get an additional two to three fold boost with further development of magnesium electrolytes, researchers said.
And because it is made with low-cost materials, it could one day help support grid- scale energy storage, the researchers said.
