The new battery, made from waste zinc and wood, is cheap and recyclable

Swedish researchers have developed a new type of battery that… Zinc And the environmentally friendly wooden component Lignin It exists, but one searches in vain for poisonous lead. Researchers see great potential for development Developing countriesWhere electricity is sometimes scarce.

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Manal Energy density The new battery should be able to keep up with lead acid batteries. The battery must reach 8000 times They can be used and retain about 80 percent of their performance. Once fully charged, one battery should last up to a week – much longer than similar zinc-based batteries, which go empty after just a few hours.

The batteries can replace lithium-ion batteries

Zinc-based batteries currently sold are usually non-rechargeable. However, there are high hopes for this type of battery. At some point they can Lithium-ion batteries Even replace it completely if you built it to be rechargeable.

“Although lithium-ion batteries are useful when handled properly, they can explode, are difficult to recycle, and raise environmental and human rights concerns due to certain components such as cobalt. Our sustainable battery is therefore a promising alternative if energy density does not play a decisive role.” Says researcher Ziauddin Khan Manal Lykoping University. the Energy density From new battery only 30-50 watt hours per kilogram – Lithium-ion batteries Comes to 5 times that.

Zinc has stabilized

One of the big problems facing zinc batteries so far is the poor durability of the batteries. As the zinc in it reacted with the water in the battery electrolyte solution, hydrogen gas was released. This caused the zinc to change in such a way that the batteries became unusable.

Swedish researchers have now managed to stabilize zinc in batteries. To do this, they used what is called a water salt electrolyte in the polymer, which contains batteries containing zinc and lignin. High stability Give. The research was conducted in collaboration with startup Ligna Energy, which has been researching the lignin battery for several years.

Cheap materials are hope for developing countries

The combination of materials also has the advantage that the battery is very cheap: “Both zinc and lignin are very cheap and the battery is easy to use Recycling. “If you calculate the cost per usage cycle, it is a cheap battery compared to lithium-ion batteries,” says Ziauddin Khan.

The researchers hope that their battery will eventually become… Solar Panels They can be used to supply electricity to developing countries. They have currently produced only a small version of the battery in the laboratory. But they are working on it a lot Larger batteries They can be made using the same principle.