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As the global demand for renewable energy grows, how to effectively store these energies has become a major challenge facing today’s society. As a new type of high-energy-density energy storage device, metal-air batteries are gradually attracting the interest of researchers and industry. This article will start from the basic concept of metal air battery, explore its working principle, technical advantages and challenges, and look forward to its future application prospects.
In the past few decades, with the depletion of fossil fuels and the improvement of environmental protection awareness, people have begun to look for cleaner and more efficient energy alternatives. Among them, renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy are favored because of their unlimited and environmental friendliness.
However, the intermittent and unpredictable nature of these energy sources limits their widespread application. Therefore, the development of efficient energy storage technology has become an important part of promoting the development of renewable energy.
Metal-air batteries are batteries that use metal as the negative electrode material and oxygen as the positive electrode active material. Depending on the type of metal used, metal air battery can be divided into zinc-air batteries, lithium-air batteries, iron-air batteries and other types. The biggest feature of these batteries is their high energy density, which theoretically enables them to provide higher endurance than traditional lithium-ion batteries.
The structure of metal air battery mainly consists of three parts: metal electrode, air electrode, and battery electrolyte. The metal electrode is composed of metals such as Zn, Mg, Al, Li, and Na. The air electrode is composed of four parts: waterproof and breathable layer, gas diffusion layer, catalyst layer, and conductive layer.
The electrolyte is aqueous (mostly neutral and alkaline) and non-aqueous. Problems such as poor stability and low energy efficiency have always restricted the further development of metal air battery technology. Among them, the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) play a vital role in the performance of metal air.
The working principle of metal air battery is based on the redox reaction between metals and oxygen in the air. During the discharge process, the metal negative electrode undergoes an oxidation reaction, loses electrons to form metal ions, and the electrons flow to the positive electrode through the external circuit, while the oxygen in the air undergoes a reduction reaction on the positive electrode, combining with water and electrons to form hydroxide ions.
The charging process is the reverse reaction of the discharging process. Taking zinc-air batteries as an example, when the battery is discharged, zinc metal is oxidized to zinc ions at the negative electrode and releases electrons.
Oxygen in the air is reduced at the positive electrode and combines with water to form hydroxide ions. Electrons flow to the positive electrode through an external circuit, thereby generating current. During the charging process, the opposite chemical reaction occurs, that is, zinc ions are reduced to metallic zinc.
Lithium-air batteries usually work in non-aqueous electrolytes, use pure oxygen at the cathode, and reversibly discharge/charge based on the formation of Li2O2, which can achieve high coulombic efficiency. It can also operate in aqueous electrolytes with solid protective films, but the battery performance is limited by limited ionic conductivity and instability of the protective film.
Lithium-air batteries show great potential in new applications such as electric vehicles, robots, and power storage systems, but face the key problem of instability.
Compared to other metal-air batteries, the technology of zinc-air batteries is relatively mature at present. The main problems are the inherent dendrite growth and morphological changes of the zinc electrode and the failure of the air electrode. Increasing the specific surface area of the zinc anode is an effective way to improve the performance of the zinc anode.
The technical level of zinc-air batteries has been proven to be manageable in practical systems. Fluid Energy has solved the dendrite problem and successfully installed zinc-air batteries in critical backup power applications.
Magnesium-air batteries and aluminum-air batteries have also attracted much attention due to their environmental friendliness, non-toxicity, and abundant resources in the earth’s crust. But similar to zinc-air batteries, their main disadvantages are low Coulomb efficiency, high polarization caused by metal anode corrosion, and slow ORR kinetics.
High-energy aluminum-air batteries have the advantages of zero emissions, long battery life, long standby time, fast charging, and safety. It can be used in niche military applications.
Other types of monolayer batteries have also been reported in recent years, such as Fe-air, Sn-air batteries, Ca-air batteries, and semiconductor air batteries containing Si and Ge anodes, all of which are in the early research stage and far from practical application.
High energy density of a battery is important and compared with traditional lithium-ion batteries, metal-air batteries have a higher theoretical energy density. The theoretical energy density of lithium-air batteries is as high as 3500Wh/kg, the theoretical energy density of zinc-air batteries is 1360Wh/kg, and the theoretical energy density of lithium-ion batteries is only 460Wh/kg.
This is because they not only utilize the chemical energy of the metal itself, but also utilize the almost endless oxygen resources in the air. This allows metal-air batteries to store more electrical energy in the same volume, which is of great significance for improving the range of electric vehicles and reducing battery weight.
Another significant advantage of metal air battery is its low cost. Most metal-air batteries use metal elements that are abundant and cheap on the earth, such as zinc and iron. This not only reduces the cost of raw materials, but also reduces dependence on rare metal resources, which is conducive to reducing overall production costs.
Metal-air batteries have less impact on the environment during production and disposal. Because they use elements that exist in nature as raw materials, these batteries are easier to recycle and reuse, reducing pollution to the environment comparing with lithium battery recycling or other batteris.
Although metal air battery has many advantages, it still faces a series of technical challenges in commercializing it.
1. Solve metal corrosion, passivation and dendrite growth
2. Find new stable and functional electrolytes or optimize existing electrolytes
3. Add stable electrocatalysts and rationally design the air cathode structure
4. Find efficient and durable bifunctional catalysts for OER and ORR reactions
5. Use a variety of advanced characterization techniques to fully understand the reaction mechanism, use theoretical and computational modeling to analyze and predict battery performance, and guide the search for ideal electrolytes and catalysts.
Although the commercialization of metal air battery is still in its early stages, some technologies have already met the conditions for large-scale mass production, some are still in the laboratory stage, and some are about to be installed on new energy vehicles on a large scale.
Technical issues such as insufficient catalytic activity of oxygen reduction catalysts, thermal runaway of battery systems, and large polarization resistance urgently need to be developed by smart companies in the field, but it undoubtedly represents the development trend of the next generation of energy storage technology.
As scientists conduct in-depth research in the fields of materials science and electrochemistry, we have reason to believe that the performance of metal air battery will continue to improve, eventually overcoming existing technical barriers and becoming a new star in the field of electrochemical energy storage.
In the future, metal air battery is expected to be used in many fields such as electric vehicles, grid energy storage cells, and portable electronic devices, bringing a cleaner and more convenient energy experience to human society. With the advancement of technology, the cost of metal air battery will further decline, making them popular and applied worldwide, helping to achieve green and sustainable development goals.
With its unique advantages, metal-air batteries are gradually becoming the new darling in the field of energy storage technology. Faced with challenges, scientific researchers are working tirelessly to overcome difficulties and strive to bring this technology with great potential to the market as soon as possible.
It can be foreseen that in the near future, metal air battery will become a powerful driving force for promoting energy revolution and promoting sustainable economic and social development.
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