New Chinese Battery Offers Hope for Hydrogen Storage
Shenyang (ANTARA) - Researchers in China have developed a new battery that may offer a solution to the clean energy challenge: how to store hydrogen easily and efficiently.
The team, led by scientists from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has developed the first prototype of a gas-solid hydride ion battery. Their findings have been published in the journal Joule.
Instead of using lithium or other common materials, the new battery utilizes hydride ions, which are hydrogen ions with an extra electron.
These ions are highly energetic, but very unstable under normal conditions. For years, scientists have struggled to use them directly in batteries.
The research team has been working to overcome this challenge since 2018. In 2023, they successfully developed a new material that allows hydride ions to move stably at low temperatures.
Two years later, they successfully created the first solid-state hydride ion battery (based on a solid electrolyte). This time, they have made another major breakthrough.
The new battery uses magnesium metal and hydrogen gas as its two electrodes.
When the battery discharges, the hydrogen gas turns into hydride ions, while the metal turns into metal hydride. When the battery is charged, the process reverses, and the hydrogen can be released again. This means that the battery can store both electricity and hydrogen at the same time.
According to the study, the battery can operate at temperatures between minus 20 and 90 degrees Celsius. Its initial discharge capacity reaches 1,526 milliampere-hours per gram.
The battery is also able to retain more than 70 percent of its capacity after 60 charge-discharge cycles.
The research team assembled 10 small batteries into a larger battery pack. The pack produced more than 2.4 volts and successfully powered an LED bulb.
“This new battery achieves an energy efficiency of 93.9 percent, or one-third higher than conventional thermal hydrogen storage methods,” said a researcher at DICP, Chen Ping.
Unlike conventional storage, which requires extreme conditions, either very high pressure or very low temperatures, the new battery can operate at room temperature and normal pressure.
The battery stores hydrogen in the form of solid metal hydride during both charging and discharging, so it does not require expensive high-pressure tanks or cryogenic cooling, Chen added.
The research team says they will continue to work to improve the battery’s performance and develop superior materials.