Whether electromobility, portable electronics or grid storage for the power supply – life without lithium-ion batteries is difficult to imagine today. But the mining of lithium and other necessary raw materials such as nickel and cobalt causes high ecological costs and soon comes up against natural limits. An alternative may be calcium-sulphur batteries, the development of which is being promoted in the CaSino joint project coordinated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Fueled by our electrolyte. And our anode which makes >5000 cycles.
Again, the challenge is the polysulfides. https://t.co/23EZQ78FDA— Maximilian Fichtner (@MaxFichtner) December 14, 2022
First prototypes were developed at HIU
“Like lithium, calcium has a high storage capacity and cell voltage,” says Maximilian Fichtner, director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), which was founded by KIT in cooperation with Ulm University. “It is also the fifth most abundant element in the earth’s crust and is equally available worldwide. Calcium is therefore also much cheaper than lithium and offers a more stable materials supply chain.” With the development of the first stable prototypes, the team at HIU had already laid the foundation for the new calcium technology. Through innovative material development, significant advances in terms of cycle stability and energy density are now to be achieved in CaSino.
Improved electrolytes for longer life
“The biggest challenge is still the reactivity of the calcium, which causes it to form unfavorable surface layers,” explains Zhirong Zhao-Karger from the HIU, who is in charge of the project. “Thanks to a boron-based electrolyte, however, we are already achieving the best electrochemical properties according to the latest state of the art.” Together with IoLiTec GmbH, a specialist for ionic liquids, the HIU is now striving to further improve the electrolyte. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is initially funding CaSino for three years.
More information:
https://www.kit.edu/kit/31698.php