Yan Yao1
University of Houston1
Battery technologies available today that offer desirable energy density for transportation are based on lithium chemistry, most of which further require transition metals such as nickel and cobalt in their active materials. The availability of these critical commodity elements in the U.S. could soon be pressured due to the growth of the EV market. To enhance the energy supply chain security of the U.S., we herein propose a battery that will match lithium batteries in terms of energy and power densities without using lithium and transition metals in active materials. Our proposed battery will substitute lithium-based anodes with the energy-dense and abundant magnesium, of which metal the U.S. has a virtually unlimited reserve and has been the world’s dominant producer. Transition metal-based cathodes will be replaced by organic materials obtained from oil refineries and biorefineries, of both the U.S. has the largest capacity in the world. The "magnesium-organic" batteries are thus a greener and more reliable domestically available alternative to lithium batteries. Our team’s recent breakthrough in the technology has overcome the energy and especially power bottlenecks that have traditionally plagued magnesium batteries, resulting in material-level energy densities of up to 579 Wh/kg and fast charging-discharging capability at 20C. The new ARPA-E project will build on our latest discovery and advance the technology on multiple fronts, including electrode material and electrolyte optimization, cycle life extension, practical cell design, and scale-up of material production and cell fabrication. This work is supported by ARPA-E DE-AR0001548.