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Researchers Make a High-Performance Battery From Junkyard Scraps (vanderbilt.edu)
Science_afficionado writes: A team of engineers and materials scientists at Vanderbilt University have discovered how to make high-performance batteries using scraps of metal from the junkyard and common household chemicals. The researchers believe their innovation could provide the large amounts of economical electrical storage required by the grid to handle alternative energy sources and may ultimately allow homeowners to build their own batteries and disconnect entirely from the grid. Vanderbilt University News reports: "To make such a future possible, Pint headed a research team that used scraps of steel and brass -- two of the most commonly discarded materials -- to create the world's first steel-brass battery that can store energy at levels comparable to lead-acid batteries while charging and discharging at rates comparable to ultra-fast charging supercapacitors. The research team, which consists of graduates and undergraduates in Vanderbilt's interdisciplinary materials science program and department of mechanical engineering, describe this achievement in a paper titled 'From the Junkyard to the Power Grid: Ambient Processing of Scrap Metals into Nanostructured Electrodes for Ultrafast Rechargeable Batteries' published online this week in the journal ACS Energy Letters. The secret to unlocking this performance is anodization, a common chemical treatment used to give aluminum a durable and decorative finish. When scraps of steel and brass are anodized using a common household chemical and residential electrical current, the researchers found that the metal surfaces are restructured into nanometer-sized networks of metal oxide that can store and release energy when reacting with a water-based liquid electrolyte. The team determined that these nanometer domains explain the fast charging behavior that they observed, as well as the battery's exceptional stability. They tested it for 5,000 consecutive charging cycles -- the equivalent of over 13 years of daily charging and discharging -- and found that it retained more than 90 percent of its capacity."
"We're forging new ground with this project, where a positive outcome is not commercialization, but instead a clear set of instructions that can be addressed to the general public. It's a completely new way of thinking about battery research, and it could bypass the barriers holding back innovation in grid scale energy storage," Pint said.
So far, batteries have remained outside of this culture, but I believe we will see the day when residents will disconnect from the grid and produce their own batteries. That's the scale where battery technology began, and I think we will return there," Pint said.
I think Pint is a bit self deluded if he thinks the university isn't going to patent the hell out of any possible development from this and wring every copper they can in licensing fees. In addition, I really can't see most people building their own batteries of sufficient storage capacity to power a home during peak usage time. Maybe an "Almost Ready to Charge(ARC)" kit that you would just have to add electrolyte to before using.
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
Not really.
When storing energy for my *house* I don't give a rats about energy density as long as I can put it somewhere where it's not a total nuisance.
Never happened. True story.
It's neat that it's got a fast recharge capability, but the energy density is still too low to be practical for anything major in this day and age.
Not really: it's too low for where density is a serious concern, e.g. mobile applications. It is however super cheapass, and does not rely on rare, expensive or horribly toxic metals. It's fine for bulk storage.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Something like this would be great for me since it's something like 1500x more energy dense by weight... That is, if it can survive cold weather, or with a heater it is still an effective alternative.
Put them in a vault in the ground, which is at a perpetual fifty degrees. (insulate the sides, but put the bottom in ground contact.) It will increase the cost of initial construction, but it may be worth it.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"