According to foreign media reports, researchers at the Skoltech Institute in Russia collaborated with researchers at the Institute for Problems of Chemical Physics of RAS and Ural Federal University, It is proved that organic materials can be used without lithium or other rare elements to make high-capacity, high-power batteries. In addition, the researchers also proved that the cathode material has extremely high stability, and the manufactured potassium battery charges and discharges quickly and has high energy density. Now, lithium-ion batteries have become indispensable in daily life, and are widely used to store energy, especially for portable electronic products. As electric vehicles continue to develop, attracting more and more investment, the demand for batteries is also increasing. For example, Volvo plans to increase the proportion of electric vehicle sales to 50% of total sales by 2025, and Daimler announced that it will stop developing internal combustion engines and focus on electric vehicles. However, the large-scale use of lithium-ion batteries will cause a serious shortage of resources for the production of lithium-ion batteries. Transition metals such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese are commonly used in the manufacture of battery cathodes. They are relatively rare, expensive, and toxic. There are a few countries that produce mostly uncommon lithium, but the global supply of lithium is too small to allow all traditional cars to be replaced by electric vehicles powered by lithium batteries. According to the German Energy Economic Research Center (FFE) estimates, in the next few decades, the shortage of lithium metal may become a serious problem. Recently, scientists have made suggestions to find other alternatives such as sodium and potassium, which are similar in chemical properties to lithium. Researchers at the Skolkovo Institute of Technology, led by Professor Pavel Troshin, have made great progress in the development of sodium and potassium batteries based on organic cathode materials. In the first paper, the researchers mentioned a polymer containing fragments of hexaazatriphenylene. Facts have proved that the new material is also suitable for lithium batteries, sodium batteries and potassium batteries, charging time is 30 to 60 seconds, after thousands of charge and discharge cycles can still maintain energy storage capacity. Roman Kapaev, the first author of the paper and a PhD student at Skoltech, explained: "Multifunctionality is one of the key advantages of organic materials. Compared with the characteristics of counterions, their redox reaction mechanism is not so obvious, so it is easier to find Lithium-ion battery replacement. As the price of lithium continues to rise, it is reasonable to replace lithium with cheaper, never-ending sodium or potassium. As for inorganic materials, the situation will become more complicated. " The disadvantage of the hexaazaphenanthrene polymer cathode is that the working potential is low (relative to the K + / K potential of about 1.6V), resulting in a decline in energy storage capacity. Therefore, the researchers mentioned another material in the second paper, a polymer based on dihydrophenazine (dihydrophenazine), which does not have the disadvantage of lower working potential and can ensure that the average working voltage of the battery is increased to 3.6 V. Philipp Obrezkov, the first author of the paper and a PhD student of Skoltech, explained: "Aromatic polymers can be made into excellent high-voltage organic cathodes for metal ion batteries. In this study, we used it for the first time in potassium battery cathodes Polyazaphenyl 5,10-dihydrobenazide. By thoroughly optimizing the electrolyte, a specific energy of 593 W × h / kg is achieved, which is the highest specific energy achieved by all known potassium ion battery cathodes. †One of the main problems with metal ion batteries is the growth of metal dendrites, especially batteries equipped with metal anodes. The growth of metal dendrites into the battery cell will cause a short circuit and usually cause a fire or even an explosion. In order to avoid this situation, alloys can be used instead of soda metals, because alloys are liquid at the battery operating temperature, which is also the view put forward by the 2019 Nobel Prize winner John B. Goodenough. Potassium-sodium alloy has a low melting point of minus 12.7 degrees Celsius and a sodium content of about 22%. In the third study, the scientists used a similar sodium-potassium alloy on carbon paper as the anode of the battery, and the redox active polymer previously developed as the cathode. It is said that such batteries can be charged and discharged within 10 seconds. Interestingly, one of the polymer cathodes allowed the potassium battery to reach the highest energy capacity, while the other cathode provided the potassium battery with excellent stability. After 10,000 charge and discharge cycles, only 11% of the capacity was lost . In addition, batteries made based on these two materials show unmatched power characteristics, approaching 100,000 W / kg, reaching the power level of supercapacitors. (Author: Yuqiu Yun) Fixed Support,Steel Support,Solar Panel Support,Ground Solar Mounting Support Fuzhou Mei Li Cheng Imp&Exp Co., Ltd , https://www.mlc-solar.com
Russian scientists use organic materials as cathodes to make potassium batteries that charge and discharge quickly