Na, K Mixture Doubles Max Volt of Flow Battery

The two metals when mixed form a liquid metal at room temperature which has at least 10 times the available energy per gram as other elements for the negative-side fluid of a flow battery.

The use of flow batteries to store intermittent renewable energy is still a far cry due to the limited amount of energy delivered by them either required high temperatures or used toxic/expensive chemicals.

An assistant professor and his coworkers at the Stanford University have developed a certain type of flow battery that uses Sodium and Potassium as the core charge producers.

Moreover, the two metals when mixed form a liquid metal at room temperature which has at least 10 times the available energy per gram as other elements for the negative-side fluid of a flow battery.

PhD Student, Antonio Baclig said, “We still have a lot of work to do but this is a new type of flow battery that could affordably enable much higher use of solar and wind power using Earth-abundant materials.”

In order to use the liquid metal negative end of the batteries, the group found a suitable ceramic membrane made of potassium and aluminum oxide to keep the negative and positive materials separate while allowing current to flow.

Additionally, higher voltage means the battery can store more energy for its size, which also brings down the cost of producing the storage device.

A new battery technology has so many different performance metrics to meet: cost, efficiency, size, lifetime, safety, etc.,” said Baclig. “We think this sort of technology has the possibility, with more work, to meet them all, which is why we are excited about it.”

Source: Advanced Science News