Lithium-ion batteries have taken the globe by storm because of their extraordinary qualities. However, due to lithium's rarity and expensive cost, researchers have been looking for other options. One alternative could be rechargeable batteries manufactured from more abundant elements, such as sodium. Saltwater batteries (SWBs), which employ seawater as the cathode, are an up-and-coming type of sodium-based battery. Despite the various potential uses of seawater batteries (SWBs), their commercialization has been hampered by the low performance of current materials.
To address this problem, researchers created a new co-doped carbon material for the anode of SWBs. The study could revolutionize the
Next-Generation Batteries Market as the SWBs will become more widely adopted due to their simple synthesis pathway and the high performance of the new anode material. This is because the material is much safer and less expensive than lithium-ion batteries.
SWBs are ecologically friendly and inherently fireproof. However, the challenge of developing high-performance anode materials at a reasonable cost remains a crucial impediment to commercialization. Traditional carbon-based materials are appealing and cost-effective. But they must be co-doped with various elements, such as sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N), to achieve acceptable performance. Unfortunately, the currently available co-doping synthesis processes are complicated, potentially risky, and don't even provide good doping levels.
The team in the present study has figured out a solution to get out of this bind. They proposed a new method for obtaining N/S co-doped carbon for SWB anodes.
The process, known as 'plasma in liquid,' entails producing a mixture of precursors comprising sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon and then firing plasma into the solution. The outcome is a material with high amounts of N and S doping and a carbon black structural backbone. Researchers pointed out the co-doped anode material developed exhibits exceptional electrochemical performance in SWBs. Further, it has a cycling life of more than 1500 cycles at a current density of 10 A/g.
Because SWBs can work safely while entirely submerged in seawater, they have a wide range of marine applications. They can be employed to provide emergency power to coastal nuclear power facilities, which is challenging to do with traditional diesel generators in the case of a tsunami. They can also be mounted on buoys to help with navigation and fishing. Most crucially, SWBs could save lives: SWBs can be used as a power source for recovery equipment on passenger ships. They would not only have a better energy density than traditional primary batteries, but they would also be able to operate in water, boosting the chances of survival.