Aluminum-Air Battery to Power EVs for 1000 Miles : Discovery News
The highlight of the video is a technician filling the test car with
distilled water, while the projected range is shown rising on a display
on the CEO's mobile phone. The water serves as a base for the
electrolyte through which ions pass to give off the energy that powers
the test vehicle's electric motor. In the test car, the water must be
refilled "every few hundred kilometers"--perhaps every 200 miles.
Very simply, an aluminum-air battery uses an aluminum plate as
the anode, and ambient air as the cathode, with the aluminum slowly
being sacrificed as its molecules combine with oxygen to give off
energy. The basic chemical equation is four aluminum atoms, three oxygen
molecules, and six water molecules combining to produce four molecules
of hydrated aluminum oxide plus energy.
Historically, aluminum-air batteries have been confined to
military applications because of the need to remove the aluminum oxide
and replace the aluminum anode plates. Phinergy says its patented
cathode material allows oxygen from ambient air to enter the cell
freely, while blocking contamination from carbon dioxide in the
air--historically a cause of failure in aluminum-air cells.
It is also developing zinc-air batteries, which can be
recharged electrically and do not sacrifice their metal electrode as the
aluminum-air cells do.
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