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Startup Unveils Revolutionary New Rechargeable Alkaline Batteries (nytimes.com)
Slashdot reader cdreimer quotes the New York Times:
Alkaline batteries can be made far more cheaply and safely than today's lithium-ion batteries, but they are not rechargeable... Ionic Materials could change that equation with an alkaline battery the company said could be recharged hundreds of times. One additional benefit of the company's breakthrough: An alkaline battery would not be as prone to the combustion issues that have plagued lithium-ion batteries in a range of products, most notably some Samsung smartphones. Cheaper and more powerful batteries are also considered by many to be the driver needed to make the cost of renewable energy technologies like wind and solar competitive with the coal, gas and nuclear power that support the national energy grid.
The company "has demonstrated up to 400 recharge cycles for its prototypes," and it's now even investigating aluminum-based alkaline batteries which would also be lighter than lithium-ion batteries. The company is backed by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, who also envisions the batteries being used in electric cars.
The company "has demonstrated up to 400 recharge cycles for its prototypes," and it's now even investigating aluminum-based alkaline batteries which would also be lighter than lithium-ion batteries. The company is backed by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, who also envisions the batteries being used in electric cars.
Rechargeable alkaline batteries are pretty well established. You can even by them in a shop:
https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/map...
In fact all alkaline batteries are rechargeable at least a few times, although it may not be entirely safe to do so.
There are two problems with these batteries: they deteriorate faster than other rechargeable batteries, and the energy density is lower than the current Li-Ion batteries.
400 cycles might be fine for some vehicles, if the cost is low enough and they are designed to have the packs swapped periodically. For comparison typical vehicle cells are rated for 3000 cycles, basically means that the car will probably wear out before they do, e.g. 900,000 miles in a Tesla Model S or 450,000 in a Nissan Leaf 30. And of course the rated lifetime is to 80% original capacity which in a 150+ mile range car is still more than adequate for many uses.
These alkaline cells seem suited to stationary systems where they can easily be swapped periodically and space is less of an issue.
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