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OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)
Wed May 29, 2013, 07:23 PM May 2013

Stanford scientists develop high-efficiency zinc-air battery

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/su-ssd052913.php
[font face=Serif]Public release date: 29-May-2013

Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
650-723-9296
Stanford University

[font size=5]Stanford scientists develop high-efficiency zinc-air battery[/font]

[font size=3]Stanford University scientists have developed an advanced zinc-air battery with higher catalytic activity and durability than similar batteries made with costly platinum and iridium catalysts. The results, published in the May 7 online edition of the journal Nature Communications, could lead to the development of a low-cost alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries widely used today.

"There have been increasing demands for high-performance, inexpensive and safe batteries for portable electronics, electric vehicles and other energy storage applications," said Hongjie Dai, a professor chemistry at Stanford and lead author of the study. "Metal-air batteries offer a possible low-cost solution."

According to Dai, most attention has focused on lithium-ion batteries, despite their limited energy density (energy stored per unit volume), high cost and safety problems. "With ample supply of oxygen from the atmosphere, metal-air batteries have drastically higher theoretical energy density than either traditional aqueous batteries or lithium-ion batteries," he said. "Among them, zinc-air is technically and economically the most viable option."

Zinc-air batteries combine atmospheric oxygen and zinc metal in a liquid alkaline electrolyte to generate electricity with a byproduct of zinc oxide. When the process is reversed during recharging, oxygen and zinc metal are regenerated.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2812
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Stanford scientists develop high-efficiency zinc-air battery (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe May 2013 OP
It seems like there is a new battery development almost everyday. itsrobert May 2013 #1
rechargable 'air' batteries never work out quadrature May 2013 #2
 

quadrature

(2,049 posts)
2. rechargable 'air' batteries never work out
Thu May 30, 2013, 02:05 AM
May 2013

the batteries end up being poisoned
by air pollutants, and soon fail

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