Batteries Come up for Air

Promising energy storage systems can now be selectively optimized

Jülich, 9 May 2016 – At the moment, lithium-ion batteries are state of the art in energy storage. However, competitors are already waiting in the wings, including lithium-air technology. A team from Forschungszentrum Jülich and

Technische Universität München

recently found an explanation for the fact that these promising batteries so far only survive a few charge cycles. They demonstrated that the operation of lithium-air batteries leads to the formation of a particularly reactive form of oxygen. As reported in the current edition of the journal

Angewandte Chemie

, this singlet oxygen is probably responsible for the electrolyte rapidly decomposing and the carbon electrolyte corroding. This discovery will make it possible to selectively improve lithium-air batteries.

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