One of the desires, as users, that we seek the most is a battery that can last and last without any problem. Well, this new lithium-air option may be the great revolution we have been waiting for. Basically, because according to the tests that have been carried out, it has a durability of more than 1,000 charging cycles.
This means that we will be able to have a battery that will offer us more than 1,000 charge/discharge cycles no problem. For this very reason, the lithium-air battery is one of the great options for the future that is being developed with the aim of taking a step forward. Not only when it comes to giving us a longer useful life, but also the possibility of storing more energy.
Lithium-air batteries
This type of battery has been, for some time, one of the best options for the future. What’s going on? Well, within this technology there was a problem that, a priori, seems solved: its low useful life. If we add that it has been possible to find a solution to this problem, together with its other benefits such as high energy density and lower cost, the truth is that we are facing an alternative that can make obsolete, not only the current batteries lithium, but also to the solid-state battery that has not yet been released.
And it is that, a group of researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois-Chicago and the Argonne National Laboratory, have published in the journal Science the results they have achieved with the work they have carried out with a functional lithium-air cell. In these results, they make it clear that the battery has had a more than decent performance, since it has managed to offer more than 1,000 charge/discharge cycles.
This represents a great step forward, since, as has been observed in other tests, lithium air batteries test have completely died after a few dozen cycles. Although, that is not the only good news, since it also has the advantage of being safer and easier to recycle once the useful life of the battery is over.
Advantages of this type of battery
In this study that we mentioned, it is made clear that the design of the battery plays an important role. More than anything, because it uses a solid electrolytewhich offers a series of advantages, both in terms of safety and energy density, as long as we compare this type of battery with liquid electrolyte batteries.
In the case of safety, they may be safer than lithium because the electrolyte is totally solid and it does not have liquids that could catch fire. One of the keys being the lightweight ceramic polymer composite design. In addition to this, it reaches an energy density of 685 Wh/kg, while lithium ones can have about 200 or 250 Wh/kg.
Therefore, we are facing a commitment to the future that will give us the possibility of having some cheaper batteriessafe, with more durability and, above all, with a higher energy density.
