Czech scientists have developed a new way to store energy in batteries
A more environmentally friendly and energy-safe way to store electricity in batteries and supercapacitors has been proposed by scientists at CATRIN and VSB-TUO together with colleagues in Germany. In a study published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, they presented a new method of producing battery electrodes based on organic materials, which show high storage capacity, speed and stability in energy storage, without the need to use harmful organic solvents.
The discovery comes at a time when scientists around the world are looking for an alternative to lithium batteries. While their consumption is constantly increasing due to electromobility, despite a number of advantages, they pose many environmental and safety risks. The main problems include the difficulty of recycling and the associated risk of leakage of toxic chemicals. Lithium batteries are also heat sensitive and lose capacity when recharged, which limits their lifetime. The new approach surpasses many of these drawbacks.
“Organic molecules can be a promising alternative due to their availability, environmental benefits and flexibility. Self-organizing organic nanowires significantly improve the transport of lithium ions due to which the battery has a high capacity, which is not lost much by repeated charging. By eliminating harmful organic solvents in the preparation, we overcome one of the key safety and environmental challenges of the current battery industry,” said one of the authors of the study, Radek Zbořil.
The organic nanowire anode has other properties contributing to its stability, longer life and safer operation. “It exhibits reduced exothermic activity during charging, which increases safety. In addition, the material gives excellent performance in hybrid supercapacitors with lithium metal ions in conjunction with commercial porous carbon,” concluded Aristeidis Bakandritsos, another member of the research team.
“We meticulously controlled the structure of a carboxylic acid anode across atomic, nanoscale, and mesoscale dimensions. This comprehensive approach enabled us to achieve top-performance among organic small molecule anode materials, but also among state-of-the-art nanomaterials.” said Ievgen Obraztsov, one of the corresponding authors of the study.
Project TECHSCALE (No. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004587) is financed by the MEYS OP JAC Excellent research programme, supported by ERDF/ESF.