C/M Energy Storage. Industry Research

  

 

C/M - CIG Energy Storage. Industry Research 

Research. Extending cycles & life span 

WATER BASED - SODIUM BRINE BATTERY

A water-based battery has endured 120,000 charge cycles while operating in a neutral salt solution similar to that found in tofu brine.

That stability reframes how long a rechargeable battery can last and how safely it might be discarded after decades of use.

Inside repeated laboratory cycling, the prototype continued charging and discharging in plain water, without the corrosive breakdown that limits many conventional cells.

Monitoring that endurance, Dr. Chunyi Zhi at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) directly connected the water battery’s record lifespan to its neutral, non-corrosive chemistry.

Even after relentless cycling, the electrodes maintained their structure and performance, rather than degrading under chemical stress.

Such durability establishes the central claim of the work, while leaving open the question of how this neutral system achieves both stability and usable power.

Minerals from tofu

When making tofu, the brine carries mineral coagulants like magnesium chloride and calcium sulfate that turn soy milk into curds.

Here, those salts served as the electrolyte, a liquid that carries electric charge between electrodes.
Holding the mix at 7.0 on the acidity scale kept it neutral, so the liquid stayed non-corrosive.

That calm chemistry reduced internal wear, but it also pushed the team to rethink the negative electrode.

New negative electrode design

Rather than using a metal negative electrode, the team built one from a covalent organic polymer, a carbon network made of linked molecules.
Porous channels in that material gave ions spaces to occupy, so the electrode stored charge without forming metal deposits.

After comparing three versions, they selected a material called Hex TADD, a covalent organic polymer built from linked, carbon-based units. This substance has electron-donating bonds that allow electrons to move more easily through the structure.

Even a sturdy negative polymer needs a matching positive electrode that can trade ions without losing its structure.

Prussian blue partner

On the positive side, the cell relied on a Prussian blue analog, a crystal that can swap ions in and out.
Its open framework held charge by changing the metal state inside the lattice, then reversed that change during recharge.

Known as a blue pigment in paints, the material stayed stable in water while it handled repeated ion exchanges.
With that positive electrode, the full cell reached a 2.2-volt span, yet water still limits how high voltage can go.

Testing the battery lifespan

In stress tests, the water battery stayed stable for 120,000 charge cycles, far beyond what many lab cells achieve.
Each cycle forced ions to enter and leave the electrodes, so weak bonds would have snapped early. Charged once a day, a phone-sized pack built in this way could last for over 300 years, in theory.

That kind of endurance matters most where replacing batteries is hard, like remote sensors or grid storage cabinets.

Energy capacity of the battery

Beyond longevity, the device stored about 3,200 milliamp-hours per ounce of active material, which equals 112.8 milliamp-hours per gram.

That charge came from ions moving into the polymer structure, then returning when the circuit reversed.
At the full-cell level, specific energy – energy stored per unit weight – reached near 22 watt-hours per pound (48.3 per kilogram).

Yet water-based batteries usually trail lithium packs on compact energy, limiting them to larger, heavier installations.

Disposing of battery waste

Safety claims rested on chemistry that was neither strongly acidic nor strongly alkaline, so leaks simply resembled salty water.

Under the EPA view, many discarded lithium-ion packs count as hazardous waste because they can ignite.
“Compared to current aqueous battery systems, the new system offers exceptional long-term cycling stability and respect for the environment under neutral conditions,” wrote Zhi.
Their paper identified the cell as non-toxic and disposable under several standards, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a U.S. hazardous waste law.

Scaling the water battery

Turning a lab cell into a commercial battery means stacking more energy into less space without losing safety.
Thicker electrodes and tighter packaging usually raise energy, but they also slow ion movement and trap heat.
Scaling production of the polymer negative electrode will require consistent pore structures, or performance will vary from batch to batch.

Those scale-up steps will decide whether the neutral-salt approach stays niche or moves into everyday energy storage.

Practical uses for water batteries

For many jobs, batteries fail because their liquids slowly chew up electrodes, not because the first charge is weak.

Using neutral salts and organic electrodes cut those side reactions, so CityUHK’s cell kept operating after relentless cycling.
Longer life could lower maintenance costs and waste, especially in infrastructure that stays put for decades.

Real-world packs still need seals, current collectors, and controls, so the neutral liquid is only one piece of the story.

Future of neutral salt batteries

Neutral saltwater, an organic negative electrode, and a Prussian blue positive material combined to make durability the headline feature in this water-based battery.

If engineers can pack more energy and manufacture the polymers reliably, this chemistry could shrink the mess that batteries usually leave behind.

https://www.earth.com/news/water-based-battery-lasts-120000-charges-and-could-run-for-centuries/


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26. K.T-CIG