Battery made of aluminum, sulfur and salt proves fast, safe and low-cost

New Atlas ^ | August 24, 2022 | By Michael Irving & MIT

[Red Badger]

Engineers at MIT have developed a new battery design using common materials – aluminum, sulfur and salt. Not only is the battery low-cost, but it’s resistant to fire and failures, and can be charged very fast, which could make it useful for powering a home or charging electric vehicles.

Lithium-ion batteries have dominated the field for the last few decades, thanks to their reliability and high energy density. However, lithium is becoming scarcer and more expensive, and the cells can be hazardous, exploding or bursting into flames if damaged or improperly used. Cheaper, safer alternatives are needed, especially as the world transitions towards renewable energy and electric vehicles.

So the MIT team set out to design a new type of battery out of readily available, inexpensive materials. After a search and some trial and error, they settled on aluminum for one electrode and sulfur for the other, topped off with an electrolyte of molten chloro-aluminate salt. Not only are all of these ingredients cheap and common, but they’re not flammable, so there’s no risk of fire or explosion.

In tests, the team demonstrated that the new battery cells can withstand hundreds of charge cycles, and charge very quickly – in some experiments, less than a minute. The cells would cost just one sixth of the price of a similar-sized lithium-ion cell.

They can not only operate at high temperatures of up to 200 °C (392 °F) but they actually work better when hotter – at 110 °C (230 °F), the batteries charged 25 times faster than they did at 25 °C (77 °F). Importantly, the researchers say the battery doesn’t need any external energy to reach this elevated temperature – its usual cycle of charging and discharging is enough to keep it that warm.

[Red Badger]

The three main ingredients in the new battery, from left: aluminum, sulfur and salt.

The research was published in the journal Nature:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04983-9

Abstract:

Although batteries fitted with a metal negative electrode are attractive for their higher energy density and lower complexity, the latter making them more easily recyclable, the threat of cell shorting by dendrites has stalled deployment of the technology1,2. Here we disclose a bidirectional, rapidly charging aluminium–chalcogen battery operating with a molten-salt electrolyte composed of NaCl–KCl–AlCl3. Formulated with high levels of AlCl3, these chloroaluminate melts contain catenated AlnCl3n+1– species, for example, Al2Cl7–, Al3Cl10– and Al4Cl13–, which with their Al–Cl–Al linkages confer facile Al3+ desolvation kinetics resulting in high faradaic exchange currents, to form the foundation for high-rate charging of the battery.

This chemistry is distinguished from other aluminium batteries in the choice of a positive elemental-chalcogen electrode as opposed to various low-capacity compound formulations3,4,5,6, and in the choice of a molten-salt electrolyte as opposed to room-temperature ionic liquids that induce high polarization7,8,9,10,11,12.

We show that the multi-step conversion pathway between aluminium and chalcogen allows rapid charging at up to 200C, and the battery endures hundreds of cycles at very high charging rates without aluminium dendrite formation. Importantly for scalability, the cell-level cost of the aluminium–sulfur battery is projected to be less than one-sixth that of current lithium-ion technologies.

Composed of earth-abundant elements that can be ethically sourced and operated at moderately elevated temperatures just above the boiling point of water, this chemistry has all the requisites of a low-cost, rechargeable, fire-resistant, recyclable battery.

[dynachrome]

Maybe Musk can get a factory going.

[Tell It Right]

I have a problem with the claim that sulfur isn’t flammable.

[Semper Vigilantis]

Volts? Amps?

[Pocketdoor]

And they act like a heater... Could be a side benefit.

[Red Badger]

Watt?.....................😜

[Red Badger]

Maybe they should add ‘instantaneously’ to flammable..............

[Zuriel]

We may get to use them, but Klaus and friends will own the batteries. Us useless eaters will own nothing and be hapoy.

[Magnum44]

"Get an electric car" they said. "It'll be fun" they said...

[Bob434]

[[In tests, the team demonstrated that the new battery cells can withstand hundreds of charge cycles,]]

So they would last a year or less or so? cars will be charged nightly in many cases- even if only charged every 3 days or so= that is about 3 years or so before replacements?

[painter]

Bump

[FarCenter]

Fast-charging aluminium–chalcogen batteries resistant to dendritic shorting

Quanquan Pang, Jiashen Meng, Saransh Gupta, Xufeng Hong, Chun Yuen Kwok, Ji Zhao, Yingxia Jin, Like Xu, Ozlem Karahan, Ziqi Wang, Spencer Toll, Liqiang Mai, Linda F. Nazar, Mahalingam Balasubramanian, Badri Narayanan & Donald R. Sadoway

Abstract
Although batteries fitted with a metal negative electrode are attractive for their higher energy density and lower complexity, the latter making them more easily recyclable, the threat of cell shorting by dendrites has stalled deployment of the technology1,2. Here we disclose a bidirectional, rapidly charging aluminium–chalcogen battery operating with a molten-salt electrolyte composed of NaCl–KCl–AlCl3. Formulated with high levels of AlCl3, these chloroaluminate melts contain catenated AlnCl3n+1– species, for example, Al2Cl7–, Al3Cl10– and Al4Cl13–, which with their Al–Cl–Al linkages confer facile Al3+ desolvation kinetics resulting in high faradaic exchange currents, to form the foundation for high-rate charging of the battery. This chemistry is distinguished from other aluminium batteries in the choice of a positive elemental-chalcogen electrode as opposed to various low-capacity compound formulations3,4,5,6, and in the choice of a molten-salt electrolyte as opposed to room-temperature ionic liquids that induce high polarization7,8,9,10,11,12. We show that the multi-step conversion pathway between aluminium and chalcogen allows rapid charging at up to 200C, and the battery endures hundreds of cycles at very high charging rates without aluminium dendrite formation. Importantly for scalability, the cell-level cost of the aluminium–sulfur battery is projected to be less than one-sixth that of current lithium-ion technologies. Composed of earth-abundant elements that can be ethically sourced and operated at moderately elevated temperatures just above the boiling point of water, this chemistry has all the requisites of a low-cost, rechargeable, fire-resistant, recyclable battery.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04983-9

[Parley Baer]

So how does this battery work at temperatures less than 32F?

[catnipman]

“Battery made of aluminum, sulfur and salt proves fast, safe and low-cost”

i just tried making one of these in my kitchen laboratory: i mixed up some salt, sulfur and hunks of aluminum, but so far no electricity has come out ... i know that for a fact because i hooked my volt meter up to it ... yet another miracle battery claim down the drain ...

[Don Corleone]

If we leave it to free American style innovation and enterprise it will solve itself faster and cheaper than ANYTHING the government could do. EFF U Brandon!

[OHPatriot]

Hurry Up and GIVE the tech to China. Oops, looks like they ALREADY HAVE IT.

[glorgau]

Yet another paper and patent on a new battery chemistry shuffled off to a Sadoway startup... gotta keep those research scientists employed!

(he’s got a number of MIT spinoffs pursuing battery tech).

[Semper Vigilantis]

LMAO Good one!

[TexasGator]

“So how does this battery work at temperatures less than 32F?”

Tesla uses pre-conditioning to bring batteries to optimal temperature.

[GOPJ]

And they act like a heater... Could be a side benefit.

Isn't there already a problem with large cities creating hotter micro climates?