If there is a ‘holy grail’ of batteries among the ebb and flow of research then the cost of components matter. Therefore these materials need to be abundantly available and cheap. Their Coulombic efficiency rating must also be high. So we come closer to getting the same amount of energy out as we put in. Recently scientists have been making a case for urea as the electrolyte.
Charles de Coulomb Father of Coulombic Efficiency
Charles de Coulomb (1736- 1806) was a trailblazer in early electrical research, although he did not call it that. Among other things he studied the magnetic forces of attraction and repulsion, and also the effect of friction on motion. For our purposes his work matters hugely for battery research. Because we need to eliminate all energy losses through battery inefficiency.
Stanford University’s Aluminum-Graphite-Urea Battery
Professor Hongjie Dai has come up with a design that scores 99.7% on the Coulombic efficiency rating. This is extremely high.
His uses aluminum as the anode and graphite as the cathode. While the electrolyte combines aluminum chloride, and urea.
“So essentially what you have is a battery with some of the cheapest and most abundant materials you can find on Earth,” Professor Hongjie Dai explains, “And it actually has good performance.” Moreover Stanford University believes this is the first time non-flammable urea has been a battery component.
More Regular Uses for This Wonder Material
Urea is a common constituent of agricultural fertilizer. Factories synthesize it from ammonia and carbon dioxide.
It also plays a role in making explosives. and reducing nitrogen oxide from diesel engines. So it is already almost indispensable.
However, the Stanford researchers’ main interest lies in electricity grid storage. Every ‘ounce’ of improved Coulombic efficiency brings us closer to our goal. This goal is greater optimisation of solar, wind, and tidal power.
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Preview Image: Urea Granules