HIU organizes international symposium on magnesium batteries
Efficient energy storage is required to buffer electricity from renewable sources or to provide electric cars with energy. A suitable technology for this could provide the magnesium battery in the future as it covered a number of attractive features. About 100 leading experts swapped ideas on the current status and the pending challenges for magnesium (Mg) as a battery raw material from 21 to 22 July 2016 at the symposium. It was held in conjunction with the Ulm Electrochemical Talks (UECT).
It was the first international symposium on magnesium batteries and it was aimed to discuss the latest state of research and to identify future scenarios. The presentations and posters at the symposium dealt with the topics electrolytes and additives, electrode interfaces, cathodes, anodes, modeling and systems.
Compared to lithium, magnesium may release and absorb two electrons, making it a very interesting material for battery research. Magnesium batteries are currently the most often researched candidates for lithium-free alternatives in the field of “high-voltage batteries” – not least because some automobile manufacturers invest in the research of magnesium batteries. The advantages are obvious: Magnesium is less reactive and thus less dangerous. During charging no dendrites grow with magnesium, which represents the main challenge to security in the use of lithium metal anodes. It is also cheaper to produce because it reacts less rapidly with air as lithium metal. Magnesium is available in large quantities, for instance in the form of rock dolomite, which results in lower prices. Magnesium batteries could be used as stationary energy storage, for example in wind turbines or solar panels.
- Pictures of the event