The low-cost battery made using zinc and lignin, a waste from the paper industry.
A collaborative effort between researchers at Linkƶping University, Karlstad University, and Chalmers University in Sweden has developed a low-cost battery that does not use lithium but is made of zinc and lignin, a waste product from the paper industry.
With the increased adoption of renewable energy solutions such as wind and solar, there is also an increased demand for energy storage solutions. Currently, these are supplied using batteries that contain components such as lithium and cobalt.
Although the energy density of these batteries is the best humanity has achieved so far, sourcing these minerals is fraught with environmental and human rights issues.
Lithium-ion batteries arenāt easy to recycle either, and therefore, they are not sustainable options in the long run.Ā
Zinc-based battery technology is widely used in the market but only for non-rechargeable applications. Lithium-based solutions are preferred since they can store higher amounts of energy. Still, they are also prone to risk of fire and explosion.
In contrast, zinc-based batteries are much safer. In the long run, they can replace lithium-ion batteries with rechargeable options. Therefore, researchers at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linkƶping University (LiU) turned to zinc and lignin for their battery design.
āOur sustainable battery offers a promising alternative where energy density is not critical,ā said Ziyauddin Khan, a researcher at LiU who was involved in the work.
The primary reason zinc batteries have not been extensively used is the reactivity of zinc with water in the electrolyte. This reaction leads to the formation of hydrogen gas, and the zinc in the battery is rendered unusable.
The Swedish researchers used a slightly different electrolyte called water-in-polymer salt electrolyte (WiPSE) and demonstrated that the stability of zinc can be increased.
āBoth zinc and lignin are super cheap, and the battery is easily recyclable,ā said Khan in the press release. āIf you calculate the cost per usage cycle, it becomes an extremely cheap battery compared to lithium-ion batteries.ā
Unlike other zinc-based batteries that discharge in just a few hours, the newly made battery can retain its charge for a week. Additionally, the battery is stable and maintains 80 percent of its performance even over the course of 8,000 cycles.
The battery designed by the team is currently small. However, the technology can easily scale up to the size of a car battery. In terms of energy density too, the batteries would be comparable to lead-acid batteries but it does not contain any toxic components, making it more environment friendly.
Reverant Crispin, a professor of organic electronics at LiU, wants the tech made available at low cost in low-income countries that are embracing renewable energy.
āWhen they build their infrastructure, they need to start with green technology right away. If unsustainable technology is introduced, it will be used by billions of people, leading to a climate catastrophe,ā Crispin explained in a statement. āWe can view it as our duty to help low-income countries avoid making the same mistakes we did.ā
The research findings were published in the journal Energy & Environmental Materials.
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Ameya Paleja AmeyaĀ is a science writer based in Hyderabad, India. A Molecular Biologist at heart, he traded the micropipette to write about science during the pandemic and does not want to go back. He likes to write about genetics, microbes, technology, and public policy.
