magnesium could be the key to batteries that don\\\'t …

Researchers have found a new battery design that can safely power the device without the risk of an explosion.
Magnesium batteries are designed to be safer than conventional lithium batteries
Flammable and explosive.
But so far, its ability to store energy is limited.
The new design of the battery will greatly increase its storage capacity to double the commercial lithium ion battery, which may lead to higher storage capacity
Lower-priced energy batteries are especially useful for electric vehicles.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, reported on the new design of the battery cathode
The electrode from which the current flows-
This is why the battery increases storage capacity.
Dr. Yao Yan, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston and lead author of this study, said that we are combining the nano-structure cathode and a new understanding of magnesium electrolyte.
It\'s new, he said.
Dr. Yao and his team started working on the project in 2014, which lasted several years with the participation of researchers from three universities and three national laboratories.
One of the challenges facing the research team is the insertion of magnesium-
Chlorine electrolyte inside the battery.
Dr. Xuan Yoo, the first author of the study and postdoc, said that it is well known that magnesium ions are difficult to insert into the host.
First of all, the decomposition of magnesium is very difficult. chloride bonds.
More importantly, the magnesium ions produced in this way move very slowly in the host.
This completely reduces the efficiency of the battery.
Researchers once thought that magnesium-
The chlorine key needs to be disconnected before plugging the chlorine key into the battery, but the new battery design subverts the idea.
The battery stores energy by inserting magnesium chloride into the \"host\"
Such as titanium sulfur.
By retaining magnesium
Compared to conventional magnesium batteries, cathode chlorine shows faster electrolyte diffusion, Dr. Yao said.
The researchers reported that the storage capacity of the new battery was 400 mAH/g, while the storage capacity of the early magnesium battery was only 100 mAh/g.
The cathode capacity of commercial lithium-ion batteries is about 200 mAH/g, Dr. Yao said.
The voltage of the new battery design is still very low, about 1 V, while the voltage of the lithium battery is 3 to 4 V.
Compared to high energy density, high voltage makes lithium-ion batteries the standard for the use of electronic devices.
But lithium is expensive and can form damage in its internal structure, which is called a branch crystal-thin, finger-
Like metal bumps that pile up from one electrode, if they extend all the way to the other, a short one can be generated
Circuit that can damage the battery and cause the battery to catch fire.
In contrast, magnesium does not form shoots and is rich on Earth, so it is cheaper than lithium.
But so far, magnesium battery technology has been hampered by the need for a better cathode and a more efficient electrolyte --
The medium in which the ion charge flows between the cathode and the anode.
According to Dr. Yoo, the key to solving this problem is to extend the titanium sulfur dioxide battery host to allow the insertion of magnesium chloride
This is through a four
The step-by-step process is called \"insert layer\" instead of destroying magnesium
As before, the chlorine bond and insert magnesium separately.
By retaining magnesium
The chlorine bond, the charge that the cathode can store has doubled.
The magnesium chloride molecule is too large to be inserted into the titanium sulfur dioxide body using the traditional method, but by constructing an early work, the researchers use the organic \"pillar \", by expanding the gap in the titanium disulfur bond by 300, an open nano-structure is created.
Opening ceremony still Small
Increase from 0.
57 NM to 1. 8 nanometers -
But this is still enough to insert for magnesium chloride.
Combined with theoretical modeling, spectral analysis and electrochemical studies, Dr. Yao said, the rapid diffusion dynamics of magnesium chloride positive ions were revealed without causing the fracture of magnesium chloride bonds.
\"Even at room temperature, large capacity is accompanied by excellent rate and cycle performance, opening the possibility for a variety of effective plug-in hostsion batteries.
\'We hope this is an overall strategy, \'Dr. Yoo said.
Insert various multi-atomic ions into the host with higher voltage, and our ultimate goal is to create higher-
Lower-priced energy batteries, especially electric vehicles.