Future batteries coming out of Australia may have to contain alcohol and caffeine content labels, if all the ingredients are fully listed. It's thanks to an innovation that leverages food-based acids in energy-storing chemistry.
University of New South Wales experts detailed their progress in working with the unlikely elements — replacing graphite as an anode material — in a lab report. In this case, acids found in sherbet, winemaking, and even coffee are among the substances being leveraged, and they react with metals to help store energy in battery cells.
For their role, coffee grounds are being analyzed as an electrode ingredient in lithium-sulfur packs, as described in the UNSW Sydney research notes.
It's all part of ongoing work by scientists from around the world to develop cheaper, safer, and better-performing cells, often with unique ingredients that could have been pulled from the kitchen pantry. Other recent innovations use potassium and salt.
By replacing graphite, the Aussies could help battery manufacturers avoid sometimes troublesome foreign supply chains that control access to the costly material. What's more, up to 60% of graphite can be lost during processing, as noted by the team.
That's why food-acid research has the possibility to deliver several environmental benefits.
"Its processing uses water rather [than] toxic solvents, so we're improving the status quo across multiple areas," lead researcher Neeraj Sharma said in the summary.
The technique could also make lithium-ion battery production more efficient and affordable while creating packs that are able to store more energy, per the experts.
That's in addition to addressing a troublesome waste stream. Food waste costs the Aussie government tens of billions of dollars a year, making up 3% of the country's planet-warming fumes, according to UNSW Sydney and the government.
In the United States, landfill waste contributes 14.4% of the country's "human-related" methane emissions. Methane is a potent planet-warming gas, 84 times more harmful than carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale, all according to the U.S. government and European Commission.
The warming gases are linked by NASA to a greater risk of extreme weather, including high-tide flooding, which impacts insurance premiums and coverage, among other consequences.
"By using waste produced at scale for battery components, the industry can diversify their inputs while addressing both environmental and sustainability concerns," Sharma said in the news release.
Next up for the UNSW Sydney team is upscaling and testing the tech in larger battery sizes as well as examining its application in other chemistry types, including sodium-ion. A prototype pouch cell the team already developed is smaller than ones used in smartphones, for reference.
The goal is to develop improved energy storage solutions that can also be easily recycled, per UNSW Sydney. The battery recycling sector is expected to grow by tens of billions of dollars globally during the next decade, according to multiple market research firms.
Building battery materials that degrade easily, are safe, and are sustainable is key to the effort, per the researchers.
"We have the versatility to change the combination to suit different supply streams and desired performance," Sharma said.
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