{"id":1951,"date":"2022-01-25T12:52:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T12:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1951"},"modified":"2022-01-25T12:52:49","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T12:52:49","slug":"new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/","title":{"rendered":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Since the discovery of electricity, inventors have struggled with how to store it. Batteries emerged relatively quickly as the most common way to preserve energy chemically, but from portability to rechargeability, it has taken centuries of tweaking elemental combinations to create the batteries our modern devices depend on.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Lithium-ion batteries have fuelled our age of portable electronics, but they have increasingly become a victim of their own success. Lithium mining is expensive, and the metal is dangerous to handle, making processing and recycling difficult.<\/p>\n

Demand is also outstripping available supplies, whose geographic isolation in places like the Australian outback can make supply chains difficult.<\/p>\n

EU data shows that Europe will need up to 60 times more lithium by 2050 to fulfil the demand for electric car batteries and renewable energy storage that will form the backbone of reaching emissions goals laid out in the\u00a0European Green Deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That has led researchers like Dr M. Rosa Palac\u00edn to try and create similarly effective batteries out of more abundant elements found right inside Europe. Based at\u00a0ICMAB-CSIC<\/a>\u00a0near Barcelona, she and her team from around the EU aim to build a prototype battery that uses periodic neighbour calcium instead of lithium. The effort is funded by a European Innovation Council Open Pathfinder grant and has been dubbed the\u00a0CARBAT<\/a>\u00a0project.<\/p>\n

Found in everything from bones to chalk, calcium is roughly 2000 times more common than lithium.<\/p>\n

\u2018Calcium is one the most abundant elements on the earth\u2019s crust,\u2019 said Dr Palac\u00edn. \u2018It\u2019s not as geographically concentrated as lithium is. This could make a battery cheap because the raw material is cheap.\u2019<\/p>\n

A Calcium Supplement<\/strong><\/p>\n

All batteries rely on a similar structure. Positive ions flow from a negative electrode across an electrolyte to a positive electrode, while negative electric current flows outside the battery and can be used to power devices.<\/p>\n

But using calcium as the negative electrode provides advantages that graphite-using lithium-ion batteries cannot \u2013 greater energy density, or how much energy can be stored per kilogram.<\/p>\n

\u2018With this configuration we were suggesting in theory we could achieve very high energy density, and this is due to the fact that we would use a metal as one of the electrodes,\u2019 Dr Palac\u00edn explained.<\/p>\n

Lithium-ion batteries can\u2019t achieve as high an energy density since they cannot use highly reactive metallic lithium as an electrode in a battery. It tends to form dendrites, tiny rigid tree-like structures that can grow inside a lithium battery and cause short circuits or even for the battery to explode over many uses.<\/p>\n

Using calcium metal within the battery let researchers take advantage of its elemental properties, with two electrons in its outer shell that it can lose.<\/p>\n

\u2018As any calcium travels through the electrolyte, two electrons would travel outside (instead of one with lithium),\u2019 she said. \u2018One could imagine that for the same battery size, the range would be higher if you used it in an electric vehicle, provided a suitable positive electrode is found.\u2019<\/p>\n

Finding the right salt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet that same property made choosing other components to build a prototype battery, such as the electrolyte that ions flow through, more complicated.<\/p>\n

\u2018There are many interactions in the electrolyte between the Ca2+ ions and the solvent molecules, and this hindered the mobility of calcium,\u2019 said Dr Palac\u00edn.<\/p>\n

Very good conductivity in the electrolyte means that ions can move faster, and the battery will have a higher power.<\/p>\n

To solve this, researchers modelled different salts and solvents to find an electrolyte that would create a passivation layer on the calcium electrode which makes it easier for ions to transfer.<\/p>\n

\u2018In the end it seems that all the electrolyte salts which work contain boron,\u2019 she said. \u2018We used calcium tetrafluoroborate dissolved in a mixture of ethylene and propylene carbonate.\u2019<\/p>\n

The next steps for commercialising the prototype would be to improve the methods used to fabricate electrodes using calcium and to develop suitable positive electrodes.<\/p>\n

\u2018All the engineering for the cell assembly was very challenging since new protocols had to be developed,\u2019 Dr Palac\u00edn said.<\/p>\n

Other abundant elements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Juan Lastra at the Technical University of Denmark was involved in another effort to create batteries out of more common elements. A researcher on the\u00a0SALBAGE<\/a>\u00a0project, he was part of a team that worked on making a battery out of an aluminium anode and a sulfur cathode.<\/p>\n

While aluminium is even more abundant than calcium, using it in a battery created similar challenges.<\/p>\n

\u2018All these multivalent ions (Ca2+, Al3+) are very reactive\u2026and it is difficult to move these ions by themselves,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

In aluminium-sulfur batteries, the aluminium is always in the form of aluminium and some chloride ions, AlCl4-.<\/p>\n

\u2018You have a conversion process where this aluminium gets decoupled gradually from the AlCl4 cluster to react with the sulfur in the cathode side,\u2019 said Dr Lastra. \u2018It\u2019s more like the lead-acid battery you have in your car rather than the lithium-ion battery in your phone.\u2019<\/p>\n

Computer-built bendable batteries<\/strong><\/p>\n

To improve the transfer of these ions, the team focused on creating using a new type of electrolyte known as a deep eutectic solvent.
\n\u2018A eutectic solvent is when you put two solids together and they become a liquid,\u2019 Dr Lastra explained. \u2018Like when you put salt and ice together and they form a liquid (brine) even below freezing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Using a supercomputer, they modelled how to combine an aluminium chloride salt with urea, which is commonly found in urine, to find the best mixing ratio for a liquid electrolyte.<\/p>\n

\u2018We model around 300 atoms at most\u2026and our simulation time is not more than one nanosecond,\u2019 said Dr Lastra. \u2018But to simulate one nanosecond of this liquid takes half a year.\u2019<\/p>\n

It takes so long because the researchers must look at one million steps per nanosecond to properly simulate all the possible reactions.<\/p>\n

Armed with the right ratio for the electrolyte, researchers for the project in Spain found that they could make the electrolyte a gel by adding polymers to the solution.<\/p>\n

\u2018Having a gel is very advantageous in terms of safety and in terms of form factor,\u2019 said Dr Lastra. \u2018If you have gel then your battery will be flexible, and you will be able to bend it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Using a gel instead of a liquid also adds safety in that the battery can\u2019t easily leak. This comes on top of the fact that the materials are all safe and inexpensive.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s all based on cheap materials. Aluminium, sulfur, the electrolyte itself and urea is very, very cheap. Even the polymer is cheap,\u2019 Dr Lastra said.<\/p>\n

The safety of the components could be a key factor in future-proofing the battery. One of the main disadvantages seen with lithium-ion batteries has been that they contain toxic and rare elements, making it hard to integrate them in the circular economy.<\/p>\n

Aluminium-sulfur batteries offer the promise of sourcing components from within Europe and increased energy security for industry. Future refinement could even help increase our uptake of renewable energy by storing power when they are not actively generating it.<\/p>\n

\u2018For stationary applications, like storing energy from a wind farm or solar power, this type of technology could be competitive,\u2019 Dr Lastra said.<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the discovery of electricity, inventors have struggled with how to store it. Batteries emerged relatively quickly as the most common way to preserve energy chemically, but from portability to rechargeability, it has taken centuries of tweaking elemental combinations to create the batteries our modern devices depend on. Lithium-ion batteries have fuelled our age of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":1952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-energy-environment"],"yoast_head":"\nNew batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil - Horizon Magazine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since the discovery of electricity, inventors have struggled with how to store it. Batteries emerged relatively quickly as the most common way to preserve energy chemically, but from portability to rechargeability, it has taken centuries of tweaking elemental combinations to create the batteries our modern devices depend on. Lithium-ion batteries have fuelled our age of ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Horizon Magazine Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/horizon.magazine.eu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-25T12:52:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"688\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"516\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Horizon Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/HorizonMagEU\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Horizon Magazine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679\"},\"headline\":\"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-25T12:52:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1238,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/18-photo-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Earth, Energy & Environment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2022\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/\",\"name\":\"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil - Horizon Magazine Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/18-photo-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-25T12:52:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/18-photo-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/18-photo-1.jpg\",\"width\":688,\"height\":516},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/1951\\\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/\",\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine Blog\",\"description\":\"The EU Research & Innovation Magazine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/eu-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/eu-logo.jpg\",\"width\":601,\"height\":283,\"caption\":\"Horizon Magazine Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679\",\"name\":\"Horizon Magazine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Horizon Magazine\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/horizon.magazine.eu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/HorizonMagEU\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/horizon\\\/author\\\/horizonmagazine\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil - Horizon Magazine Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil","og_description":"Since the discovery of electricity, inventors have struggled with how to store it. Batteries emerged relatively quickly as the most common way to preserve energy chemically, but from portability to rechargeability, it has taken centuries of tweaking elemental combinations to create the batteries our modern devices depend on. Lithium-ion batteries have fuelled our age of ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/","og_site_name":"Horizon Magazine Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/horizon.magazine.eu","article_published_time":"2022-01-25T12:52:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":688,"height":516,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Horizon Magazine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/HorizonMagEU","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Horizon Magazine","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/"},"author":{"name":"Horizon Magazine","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/person\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679"},"headline":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil","datePublished":"2022-01-25T12:52:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/"},"wordCount":1238,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg","articleSection":["Earth, Energy & Environment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2022","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/","name":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil - Horizon Magazine Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-01-25T12:52:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg","width":688,"height":516},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1951\/new-batteries-could-share-a-unique-bond-with-milk-and-kitchen-foil\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New batteries could share a unique bond with milk and kitchen foil"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/","name":"Horizon Magazine Blog","description":"The EU Research & Innovation Magazine","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#organization","name":"Horizon Magazine Blog","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/eu-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/eu-logo.jpg","width":601,"height":283,"caption":"Horizon Magazine Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/#\/schema\/person\/8f23522ba58f477f04dd574e1034f679","name":"Horizon Magazine","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/407bd816be829798850d5e7f646c4137f70c86c6af6c761b67a6ea80c364ffa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Horizon Magazine"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/horizon.magazine.eu","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/HorizonMagEU"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/author\/horizonmagazine\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/18-photo-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNKV-vt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2078,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2078\/salt-and-a-battery-smashing-the-limits-of-power-storage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1951,"position":0},"title":"Salt and a battery \u2013 smashing the limits of power storage","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"June 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to the renewables\u2019 boom, the limiting factor of the energy revolution is not power supply as much as power storage these days. Cleaner, greener batteries are needed to charge our cars, ebikes and devices for longer. We have all been there. The rectangular icon in the top right-hand corner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/06\/jun24.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2737,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2737\/pass-the-salt-please-power-lies-within\/","url_meta":{"origin":1951,"position":1},"title":"Pass the salt please. Power lies within","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"April 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A new generation of batteries may bolster the EU\u2019s green ambitions. By Anthony King A green industrial future for Europe may depend on an element that is part of a household staple: table salt. Dr John Abou-Rjeily, a researcher at Tiamat Energy in France, is using sodium to develop rechargeable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/04\/24.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1306,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1306\/cheaper-lighter-and-more-energy-dense-the-promise-of-lithium-sulphur-batteries\/","url_meta":{"origin":1951,"position":2},"title":"Cheaper, lighter and more energy-dense: The promise of lithium-sulphur batteries","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Rex Merrifield Lithium-sulphur batteries, which are lighter and cheaper than today\u2019s models, may be the next generation of power cells that we use in electric cars or mobile phones \u2013 if scientists can get them to last for longer. The main attraction is that they can store much more energy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scientists are working to increase the number of charging cycles a lithium-sulphur battery can go through before it fails in order to make it a realistic alternative to today\u2019s lithium-ion design. Image credit - Pxfuel, public domain","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/06\/Electric_car_sm.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3170,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/3170\/self-repairing-batteries-promise-longer-life-and-range-for-electric-cars\/","url_meta":{"origin":1951,"position":3},"title":"Self-repairing batteries promise longer life and range for electric cars","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"July 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"To achieve better and longer lasting batteries for electric vehicles, EU-funded researchers are developing technology that enables batteries to quickly detect damage and repair themselves. By Anthony King Batteries are one of the biggest speed bumps on the road to mass electric vehicle (EV) adoption. But what if they could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transport"","block_context":{"text":"Transport","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/transport\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Advanced sensors in batteries could help electric vehicles drive further, for longer with less damage to the environment. \u00a9 StudioFI, Shutterstock.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/17.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/17.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/17.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/17.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":465,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/465\/tenfold-improvement-in-liquid-batteries-mean-electric-car-refuelling-could-take-minutes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1951,"position":4},"title":"Tenfold improvement in liquid batteries mean electric car refuelling could take minutes","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"September 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the biggest drawbacks of electric vehicles \u2013\u00a0that they require hours and hours to charge \u2013\u00a0could be obliterated by new type of liquid battery that is roughly ten times more energy-dense than existing models, according to Professor Lee Cronin, the Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/fuel-1596622_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/fuel-1596622_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/fuel-1596622_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/fuel-1596622_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/fuel-1596622_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/fuel-1596622_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2572,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2572\/europes-battery-charge-to-power-a-green-economy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1951,"position":5},"title":"Europe\u2019s battery charge to power a green economy","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"November 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As it moves away from fossil fuels and towards climate-neutrality, the EU is placing strategic importance on the market for batteries and stepping up research in the field. By \u00a0Horizon Staff From mobile phones and kitchen appliances to computers and cars, batteries are so much a part of daily life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/11\/14-Oct-31.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}