The advantages of proton batteries combined with hydrogen fuel cells are a fairly environmentally friendly battery that can be manufactured without the need for metal. The latest technology even makes this process reversible and rechargeable. During proton battery charging, electrodes The carbon is combined with the generated protons by decomposing water with the help of a power source. The protons are released again and return through the reversible fuel, and form water with the oxygen in the air to generate electricity. And unlike fossil fuels, carbon does not burn in the process or Cause emissions.
The key to the technology is that in the charging process, the protons generated by the decomposition of water in the reversible fuel cell are conducted through the cell membrane, and the electrons provided by the applied voltage are directly combined with the storage material without forming hydrogen. The reason for its energy efficiency is. Comparable to lithium-ion batteries, because it avoids the loss of hydrogen gas and splitting into protons.
Lead researcher Professor John Andrews pointed out that the original hydrogen fuel cell is not only difficult to recharge, but still requires the use of expensive monovalent metals, but its proton battery technology has taken a key step towards the future of environmentally friendly energy. He stressed that The proton battery is mainly composed of carbon, which is a richer and cheaper raw material than hydrogen storage alloys and lithium and other metals, and can alleviate the current demand for energy storage technology for rare metals.
Not only that its performance is also quite good, according to experimental results, 5.5 square cm active internal surface area can store the energy equivalent to the general commercial lithium-ion battery, and this is still not optimized prototype. John Andrews said that future work The focus will be on further improving battery performance and energy density through atomic-level thin-film carbon-based materials such as graphene, and challenging the market position of lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used in power grids and home energy storage.
The results of the study have been published in the International Hydrogen Journal. The prototype currently established in the lab is a small battery with only 1.2V. The latest version will provide integrated rechargeable units. This research was partly obtained by the Australian Defense Science and Technology Group and Funding for the United States Navy Research Global Office.