Research results have shown that high-performance battery electrolytes can be made with 'chitin' contained in the shells of crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs.
According to The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, on the 1st local time, researchers at the Materials Innovation Center at the University of Maryland in the US made an electrolyte from chitin and applied it to batteries. The paper was published in the journal 'Matter'.
The researchers extracted a hard liquid membrane that could be used as an electrolyte from chitin, a component of the crustacean shell, through chemical treatments such as adding acetic acid, and combined zinc with it to create a renewable battery.
If chitin, which is decomposed in nature, can replace chemicals in batteries, battery-based green industries such as electric vehicles can become more environmentally friendly.
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< Chitosan-zinc electrolyte energy generation principle (Infographic=Journal 'Matter') >
Electrolyte is a liquid inside a battery that helps charge the battery by moving ions carrying substances that cause electricity to move from one end of the battery to the other.
"It is not easy for a battery to work at high current densities," the researchers said. "This performance demonstrates the advantages of chitosan-based materials."
Batteries made from chitosan are fire-resistant and have been shown to decompose in soil in just 5 months.
In addition, the zinc remaining after decomposition can be recycled.
On the other hand, most batteries in widespread use today contain chemicals such as lithium ions, which take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose naturally.
In addition, unlike chitosan-based batteries, conventional batteries are highly flammable, so they can burn home appliances or cause fires in airplanes, garbage dumps, and recycling sites.
Professor Antonio J Fernandez of the University of Cartagena, Spain, who was not involved in the study, said, "Batteries that are environmentally friendly, inexpensive and high-capacity are one of the products that must be developed in the coming years." He said chitosan-based batteries should be tested in commercial conditions. said.
Professor Graham Newton at the University of Nottingham in the UK also diagnosed that there will be several limitations in connecting laboratory results to technology commercialization, but analyzed that chitosan and zinc batteries are promising for commercialization.