A new kind of battery has been developed by Stanford University scientists that promises to revolutionize battery quality.
The new battery, is a zinc-air pairing that has better catalytic activity, more durability and costs a fraction of the more expensive batteries that require platinum and iridium catalysts .
This discovery could lead to the creation of batteries that are much less expensive than lithium-ion batteries.
It would also go a long way to limit the safety concerns that are common with lithium ion batteries. The new battery would combine zinc metal and atmospheric oxygen in a liquid alkaline electrolyte that would generate electricity and generate by products of zinc oxide. When recharged the process is reversed and zinc metals are re-generated.
The only thing left to devise is a better electrical re-charging process for the novel battery, since there are stumbling blocks both in the lack of efficiency and the robustness of the air catalysts, and the limited life cycle of the zinc electrodes.
Source : Science daily 5.30.13
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