China Has Created A Cheap And Safe Calcium Fabric Battery
Calcium is 2,500 times more abundant in nature than lithium. By achieving the same energy density as lithium batteries, calcium batteries could become a comparable alternative. The first calcium-based battery that can withstand 700 full discharge cycles at room temperature without loss of stability was developed at Fudan University.
Scientists have long been looking at calcium compounds as a potential alternative to lithium. The most promising are calcium-oxygen batteries, which, in the process of delivering current to its consumer (during discharge), take oxygen directly from the air. This obviously raises the chemical output of such an element to the maximum possible theoretical value, because the internal resource of the battery is freed from the need to store this component.
The merit of scientists from Fudan University is that they have developed a suitable liquid electrolyte and a “two-electron” reaction that, at room temperature, restores the electrode during the charging of a calcium-oxygen battery. The experimental calcium-oxygen battery cannot yet boast an energy storage capacity comparable to lithium batteries, but it turned out to be able to withstand 700 charge and discharge cycles, which says a lot. Further improvement of the development promises to make it comparable to lithium batteries with other benefits – from low cost to mass availability.
