We use batteries frequently — from our smartphones, to our wristwatches, to our laptops, and to our cars.
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
Most of our batteries are lithium-ion ones. People are alarmed that since the demand for this type of battery is high, this might lead to shortages of lithium in the world. This is why scientists look for an alternative for lithium-ion batteries, in the form of sodium-ion batteries. Sodium is cheap and abundant, which makes it a good alternative.
However, there’s a catch: Sodium-ion batteries have a much shorter lifespan than lithium-ion ones. But why do this type of battery decay quickly? Or in general, why do batteries decay in the first place? Scientists may have found the reason.
… UC Santa Barbara computational materials scientist Chris Van de Walle and colleagues have uncovered a reason for this loss of capacity in sodium batteries: the unintended presence of hydrogen, which leads to degradation of the battery electrode…
Professor Peelaers, now at the University of Kansas, described the key findings: “We quickly realized that hydrogen can very easily penetrate the material, and that its presence enables the manganese atoms to break loose from the manganese-oxide backbone that holds the material together. This removal of manganese is irreversible and leads to a decrease in capacity and, ultimately, degradation of the battery.”
[…]
… Now that its detrimental impact has been flagged, measures can be taken during fabrication and encapsulation of the batteries to suppress incorporation of hydrogen, which should lead to better performance.”
In fact, the researchers suspect that even the ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries may suffer from the ill effects of unintended hydrogen incorporation. Whether this causes fewer problems because fabrication methods are further advanced in this mature materials system, or because there is a fundamental reason for the lithium batteries to be more resistant to hydrogen is not clear at present, and will be an area of future research.
(Image Credit: PublicDomainPictures/ Pixabay)
Source: neatorama