Lithium Ion Battery Replacement for Electric Vehicles: Magnesium Ion

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) took another step toward researching batteries for electric vehicles, which could make magnesium-based batteries for electric cars outperforming lithium-ion battery electric vehicles. The team uses positive magnesium ions, each of which carries a positive charge, and uses battery-like chemistry to replace the lithium ions with electrodes similar to many of today's device architectures.

"Since magnesium is carrying two positively charged ions, each time we use magnesium ions as a battery material, we can touch twice as many electrons," said Jordi Cabana, principal investigator for chemistry at the University and assistant professor at UIC, "We hope, This work opens a solid design path for high-voltage, high-energy batteries. "

The study is part of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, a division of the Energy Innovation Hub led by the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States. The purpose of the study Is a revolutionary advance in battery performance and the findings have been published in Advanced Materials.

Each cell consists of a positive and negative electrode and an electrolyte, where the electrode interchanging is usually a positive charge of electrons and ions and only the ions of an electrical insulator flow through the electrolyte in order to force electrons to flow through the external circuit and further power to the vehicle or equipment.

When the battery is recharged, the exchange of the electrodes is reversible, however, the chemical reaction in the reverse process is not fully efficient, which limits the number of times the battery can be recharged.

"The more batteries you can recharge, the more batteries you can recharge, if you can do that as many times as possible," Cabana further explained. "In our case study, we wanted There is a maximum number of electrons in order to move the ions because as the ions enter or leave, the structure of the electrode material is distorted, the more the structure is distorted, the larger the amount of energy that is consumed in removing the ions, and as a result, It will become harder to charge the battery. "

"Like a mechanical parking tower, it provides only ample space for cars to park," explains Cabana. "But you can still park in the same space as everyone else, without distorting the structure of the parking tower."

"It has been confirmed that magnesium reversibly inserts into the structure of the electrode material and this result brings us closer to the prototype magnesium ion battery," said Cabana.

Cabana concluded, "Our research is still not really a magnesium ion battery, it's just a part of it, but you'll find the same reaction in the devices that will be done in the future."