The US Army is behind a new research project at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory that aims to send lithium-ion batteries spinning into a new era of high capacity energy storage. Among other things, that means more wind and solar grid integration, and that’s kind of funny considering that right now DOE is making yet another stab at finding a way to save old coal and nuclear power plants from the dust bin of history. Good luck with that!
Energy storage really is the key to renewable energy grid integration, so let’s take a look at the new Brookhaven research and see what’s up.
High Capacity Energy Storage, With Iron
Earlier this week, CleanTechnica made the case that we are entering the Age of Nickel, but perhaps we spoke too soon. The new Brookhaven lithium-ion battery owes its superior performance thanks to the Age of Iron, or rather iron trifluoride.
Iron trifluoride doesn’t usually pop up when the topic turns to energy storage in general and increasing the capacity of lithium-ion batteries in particular, and for good reason. Here’s the lab with an explainer:
…the compound has not historically worked well in lithium-ion batteries due to three complications with its conversion reaction: poor energy efficiency (hysteresis), a slow reaction rate, and side reactions that can cause poor cycling life.
In other words, the battery is not particularly rechargeable. That sounds like a hopeless case, but on the other hand iron trifluoride is relatively inexpensive and it’s non-toxic, too. Brookhaven chemist and lead researcher Enyuan Hu offers another good reason to pursue the compound for more and better energy storage:
The materials normally used in lithium-ion batteries are based on intercalation chemistry. This type of chemical reaction is very efficient; however, it only transfers a single electron, so the cathode capacity is limited. Some compounds like FeF3 are capable of transferring multiple electrons through a more complex reaction mechanism, called a conversion reaction.
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