Chemical current sources with aluminum anode. New PHINERGY batteries - revolution or ...? Combined sources of current
French renault. It proposes to use aluminum-air batteries from Phinergy in future electric vehicles. Let's take a look at their prospects.
Renault decided to make a bet on a new type of battery, which can allow to increase the range of run from one charging seven times. When preserving the dimensions and weight of today's batteries. Aluminum-air (AL-AIR) Elements have a phenomenal energy density (8000 W / kg, against 1000 W / kg in traditional batteries), producing it when the aluminum oxidation reaction in the air. This battery contains a positive cathode and a negative anode made of aluminum, and between the electrodes contains a water-based liquid electrolyte.
The company's battery developer PHINERGY stated that it has reached great progress in the development of such batteries. Their proposal is to use a catalyst made of silver, which allows you to effectively use oxygen contained in conventional air. This oxygen is mixed with a liquid electrolyte, and thus frees the electrical energy, which is contained in the aluminum anode. The main nuance is in the "air cathode", which acts as a membrane in your winter jacket - only o2 passes, and not carbon dioxide.
What is the difference from traditional batteries? In the last fully closed cells, while Al-AIR elements are needed external element, "Running" reaction. An important advantage is the fact that the Al-Air Battery acts as a diesel generator - it produces energy only when you turned it on. And when you "blocked the air" such a battery, all of its charge remains in place and does not disappear over time, like conventional batteries.
During the operation of the AL-AIR battery, an aluminum electrode is used, but it can be replaced as a cartridge in the printer. Charging should be done every 400 km, it will be to top up the new electrolyte, which is much easier than waiting until the usual battery is charged.
The company PHINERGY has already created an electric CITROEN C1, which is equipped with a 25 kg battery with a capacity of 100 kWh. It gives a stroke of 960 km. With a power engine of 50 kW (about 67 horse power), the car develops a speed of 130 km / h, accelerates to hundreds in 14 seconds. A similar battery is also tested on Renault Zoe, but its capacity is 22 kWh, the maximum speed of the car is 135 km / h, 13.5 seconds to "hundreds", but only 210 km of the turn of the stroke.
New batteries are easier, twice cheaper than lithium-ionic and in perspective is easier to operate, rather than modern. And so far, their only problem is an aluminum electrode, which is composed of production and replacement. As soon as this problem decides - you can safely expect even greater waves of the popularity of electric vehicles!
- , Jan 20, 2015
Batteries are devices that transcribe chemical energy into electrical energy. They have 2 electrodes, there is a chemical reaction between them, which electrons are used or produced. Electrodes are connected with a solution with a solution called an electrolyte, with which ions can move by performing an electrical chain. Electrons are formed on the anode and can pass through the outer chain on the cathode, this is the movement of electrical electrons that can be used to perform the simple devices.
In our case battery It can be formed with two reactions: (1) reactions with aluminum, which generates electrons per one electrode, and (2) Oxygen reactions, which uses electrons on another electrode. To help electrons in the battery, gain access to oxygen in the air, you can make a second electrode material that can carry out electricity, but is not active, for example, coal, which consists mainly of carbon. Activated coal is very porous and this sometimes leads to a large surface area, which is supplied to the atmosphere. One gram of activated carbon can be more square than a whole soccer field.
In this experience you can build batterywhich uses these two reactions and the most amazing thing that these batteries can feed a small motor or light bulb. To do this, you will need: aluminum foil, scissors, activated carbon, metal spoons, paper towels, salt, small cup, water, 2 electrical wires with clips at the ends and a small electrical device, such as an engine or LED. Cut the piece of aluminum foil size, which will be approximately 15x15cm., Prepare a saturated solution, a mixture of salt in a small cup with water until the salt will no longer dissolve, fold the paper towel to a quarter and feed it with brine. Put this towel on the foil, add a spoon of activated carbon to the top of a paper towel, pour the brine at coal to moisten it. Be sure that the coal is wet everywhere. In order not to touch the water directly you must melt 3 layers as in the sandwich. Prepare your electrical devices for use, one end of the electrical wire is attached to the download, and the other end of the wire is connected to the aluminum foil. Tightly press the second wire to a pile of coal and see what happens if the battery works fine, it is likely that you will need another item to turn on your device. Try to increase the area of \u200b\u200bcontact between your wire and charcoal, folding the battery and squeezing. If you use the engine, you can also help him start cooling the shaft with your fingers.
The first modern electrical battery was made from a number of electrochemical cells and is called a volt pillar. Repeat the first and third step to build an additional aluminum-air elementconnecting 2 or 3 air-aluminum element You will get a more powerful battery with each other. Use the multimeter to measure the voltage and current obtained from your battery.
How to change your battery so that it becomes more voltage or larger current - calculate the output power from your battery by means of its voltage and current. Try connecting other devices to your battery.
Phinergy, Israeli startup, demonstrated an aluminum-air battery that is able to feed an electric vehicle up to 1000 miles (1609 km). Unlike other metal batteries, we wrote about in the past, the phinergy aluminum-water battery consumes aluminum as fuel, thus providing an increase in energy in such a quantity that it is fitted with gas or diesel. Phinergy declares that they signed a contract with a global automaker for " mass production"Batteries in 2017.
Metal air batteries are not a new idea. Zinc-air batteries are widely used in hearing aids, and are inherently able to help with. IBM are engaged in work on a lithium-air battery, which, like Phinergy, is aimed at long supply. In recent months, it turned out that sodium-air batteries also have the right to life. In all three cases, the air is the most component that makes the batteries as desired. In the usual battery, the chemical reaction is exceptionally internal nature, because they are usually very dense and heavy. In metal batteries, the energy is obtained by oxidizing the metal (lithium, zinc, aluminum) oxygen surrounding us, and not enclosed in the battery. The result is a lighter and simple battery.
The PHINERGY aluminum-air battery is a novelty for two reasons: firstly, the company obviously found a way to prevent corrosion of aluminum with carbon dioxide. Secondly, the battery is actually powered by aluminum, like fuel, slowly converting simple aluminum into aluminum dioxide. The PHINERGY aluminum-air battery prototype consists of at least 50 aluminum plates, each of which provides energy by 20 miles. After 1000 miles, the plates must be mechanically recharge - euphemism to the simple physical removal of the plates from the battery. Aluminum air batteries must be replenished with water every 200 miles to restore the electrolyte level.
Depending on your point of view, mechanical charging and beautiful, and terrible. On the one hand, you give a car life another 1000 miles, roughly speaking by changing the battery; On the other hand, buy a new battery for every thousand miles, to put it mildly, not very economically. Ideally, it's all likely to go down to the issue of the battery price. Considering today's market, aluminum kilogram costs $ 2, and a set of 50 plates in 25 kg. By easy counting, we get that the "Recharge" of the machine will cost $ 50. $ 50 For a trip to 1000 miles it, in truth, is not bad, when compared with $ 4 per gallon gas, which is enough for 90 miles. Aluminum dioxide can be recycled back to aluminum, however, this is not a cheap process.
Almost thirty years of searching for ways to improve the aluminum-ion battery is approaching its final. The first accumulator with an aluminum anode, capable of quickly charged, while inexpensive and durable, developed scientists from the University of Stanford.
Researchers confidently declare that their brainchild may well become a safe alternative to lithium-ion batteries, everywhere applied today, as well as alkaline batteries that are environmentally harmful.
It will not be further remembered that lithium-ion batteries are sometimes ignited. Professor of Chemistry Hongzhi Dai is sure that his new battery will not light up, even if drove it through. Colleagues of Professor Daia characterized new batteries as "superfast rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries."
Due to the low cost, fire safety, and the ability to create significant electrical capacity, aluminum has long ago attracted the attention of researchers, but for many years they went to create a commercially viable aluminum-ion battery, which could produce sufficient tension even after many charge-discharge cycles.
Scientists needed to overcome many obstacles, including: the collapse of the cathode material, low cell discharge voltage (about 0.55 volts), loss of tank and insufficient life cycle (less than 100 cycles), fast power loss (from 26 to 85 percent after 100 cycles).
Now the scientists have submitted rechargeable battery Based on aluminum with high stability into which they used a metal anode from aluminum in a pair with a cathode of three-dimensional graphite foam. Prior to that, many different materials for the cathode were tried, and the decision in favor of graphite was found quite by chance. Scientists from the Hongzhi Dia group identified several types of graphite material that show highly high performance.
In his experimental samples, the Stanford University team placed an aluminum anode, a graphite cathode, and a safe liquid ion electrolyte consisting mainly of salts solutions into a flexible polymer package.
Professor Dai and his group recorded video, where they showed that even if drilled the shell, their batteries will still continue to work for some time and will not light up.
An important advantage of new batteries is their ultrafine charging. Usually lithium-ion batteries of smartphones are recharged within a few hours, while the prototype of the new technology demonstrates unprecedented charging speed to one minute.
The durability of new batteries is especially striking. The battery resource is more than 7,500 charge-discharge cycles, and without loss of power. The authors report that this is the first model of aluminum-ion batteries, with ultrabstroy charging, and stability in thousands of cycles. And typical lithium-ion battery Withstands only 1000 cycles.
A remarkable feature of the aluminum battery is its flexibility. The battery can be bend, which indicates the potential for its use in flexible gadgets. Among other things, aluminum is much cheaper than lithium.
The use of such batteries for storing renewable energy seems to be promising for the purpose of its reservation for subsequent supply of electrical networks, since according to the latest scientists, the aluminum battery can be charged tens of thousands of times.
Contrary to massively used elements of AA and AAA with a voltage of 1.5 volts, an aluminum-ion battery generates a voltage of the order of 2 volts. This is the highest of indicators that anyone achieved with aluminum, and in the future this indicator will be improved, the developers of new batteries declare.
The storage density of 40 W-hour energy is achieved per kilogram, and this indicator reaches 206 W-hour per kilogram. However, improving the cathode material, I am sure that Professor Hongzhi Dai will eventually lead to an increase in voltage and to an increase in the density of energy storage in aluminum-ion technology accumulators. In any case, a number of advantages over lithium-ion technology have already been achieved. Here and low cost, combined with safety, and high-speed charging, and flexibility, and long service life.
