The organic electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries are flammable and can easily cause fires. Efforts have been made to develop water-based electrolytes as a safer alternative.
Recently, media reports indicated that a research team from Yokohama National University and Sumitomo Electric Industries, among others, has successfully developed a new type of lithium-ion battery with higher safety by using water instead of flammable organic solvents.
Although the new battery is slightly inferior to traditional batteries in terms of energy storage performance, it can eliminate fire hazards and enable fast charging. The research team hopes to commercialize the battery within three years.
Lithium-ion batteries use flammable organic solvents as electrolytes, commonly found in smartphones and electric vehicles. To eliminate the fire risk, researchers are experimenting with using water as the electrolyte and searching for new electrode materials to ensure that battery performance does not significantly degrade.
Experimental results show that the battery with molybdenum oxide as the negative electrode is practical. In addition to greatly improved safety, the new battery can also achieve fast charging. After 2,000 charging cycles, its capacity drops by less than 30%.
Because water undergoes electrolysis under high pressure, unlike traditional batteries that use organic solutions as electrolytes, this new battery can only operate at low pressures. Its energy density is approximately half that of traditional batteries, meaning that a larger size would be required to achieve the same capacity.
Even so, due to its high safety and durability, it can be widely used in fields such as solar energy, wind power batteries, and short-range electric vehicles in the future.
