Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Most promising primary battery chemsitry

MineMan - 29-3-2022 at 06:50

Any ideas on the most practical battery chemistries to experiment with for highest energy densities possible. The battery can be primary… it’s almost better if it is. The best I can find is lithium thyionl chloride, however the discharge rates are about .1C, far too little.

Sulaiman - 30-3-2022 at 00:37

silver is used as the anode of a primary cell that has high discharge rates,
with electrolyte added only when required, giving a very long shelf life.
mostly military applications.

A sodium anode in water should give a massive current - available as the sodium explodes.

Unless you want to spend years on battery research your best bet is to buy a commercial product.
Making a battery is reasonably easy, making a reliable battery is not.

[Edited on 30-3-2022 by Sulaiman]

MineMan - 30-3-2022 at 03:47

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman  
silver is used as the anode of a primary cell that has high discharge rates,
with electrolyte added only when required, giving a very long shelf life.
mostly military applications.

A sodium anode in water should give a massive current - available as the sodium explodes.

Unless you want to spend years on battery research your best bet is to buy a commercial product.
Making a battery is reasonably easy, making a reliable battery is not.

[Edited on 30-3-2022 by Sulaiman]


Thank you for the reply. I see some papers where labs make a battery that has 1000wh/kg. I need storage capacity and medium discharge. It seems like producing them at scale is the challenge rather than making a few in the lab for testing?

clearly_not_atara - 30-3-2022 at 04:11

I think you're looking for Li-SVO (cathode: Ag2O*2V2O5), used for medical implants requiring the highest possible energy and power density:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3811938/

A fuel-air cell would have an even higher energy density, but low power output. And good luck "making" this, it's very, very hard.

hodges - 30-3-2022 at 15:19

I would be interested in seeing a lithium-fluorine fuel cell. A single cell should produce nearly 6 volts!

Sorry for being a "wise guy", but after examining the electromotive series I've always wondered if a cell made with the highest and lowest potential elements is feasible.

Sulaiman - 30-3-2022 at 18:39

I suppose that anyone considering battery chemistry has had similar thoughts.

Due to geopolitics I guess that battery research is well funded at the moment.

My own brief attempts at diy batteries exposed how little electrochemistry I understand :)

MineMan - 31-3-2022 at 09:25

The Li SVO looks interesting… it’s still best by lithium thyional chlorides at 1400wh/kg… but these have low current discharge. It does seem challenging but reading some papers some chemistries are doable.

Lithium fluoride would be awesome. I wonder about lithium hydride and graphene fluoride!