Can aluminum-air batteries replace lithium-ion batteries?

Can aluminum-air batteries replace lithium-ion batteries? Geely Automobile Research Institute has done relevant simulation modeling experiments to study the application of aluminum-air batteries as vehicle energy for electric vehicles from the perspective of vehicle dynamics, focusing on the amount of electricity they can release and power. Judging from the experimental results, the aluminum-air battery is more suitable as a battery for battery life. Du Zhiqiang said that aluminum-air batteries are an energy source. Relative to batteries that can store electrical energy, aluminum-air batteries of the same weight can release more electrical energy, and their energy density is high, but their releasable power is extremely low. Use alone does not meet the needs of the car, especially when it is just started. This is equivalent to a fuel car. The fuel tank is large, but the engine is small. It can go a long way, but it goes very slowly. In contrast, the speed of lithium-ion batteries will be more stable. If the aluminum-air battery of the same power (that is, the vehicle has the same speed) is used, its weight will be about 4 to 5 times that of a lithium-ion battery. In other words, the standard energy of an electric car should be that the strength of the aluminum-air battery is used in actual use to obtain a longer driving range. At the same time, it should be supplemented by the short of the aluminum-air battery and equipped with a power-type battery. Make the vehicle have good power performance. 1. The vehicle is still unknown. Regarding vehicle applications, aluminum-air batteries are still unknown. Du Zhiqiang believes that, at present, aluminum-air batteries have some applications in mobile communication devices and notebook computers, but they are all experimental and not very extensive. In the future application of electric vehicles, there are still many technical problems that need to be solved urgently. Whether it can successfully become the energy source for electric vehicles depends on the final choice of the market. In other fields, from the perspective of the technical characteristics of the aluminum-air battery itself, it seems more suitable as an emergency power source and a mobile power station. 2. Mostly used for emergency power supply. Aluminum-air battery is not a battery used to store electrical energy in the traditional sense, but a chemical reaction device to release electrical energy. Chen Tao said that its working principle is that the energy released by the oxidation reaction of active metals in water is output in the form of electrical energy through the electrolyte and special electrode materials. In layman's terms, for aluminum-air batteries, the active metal is aluminum, similar to zinc-air batteries, magnesium-air batteries, etc., but according to the activity of the metal (the degree of the oxidation reaction in water or air) is different. , The electrolyte and other auxiliary materials used are slightly different. 'Just add clean water' is only in the life cycle of the battery, the substance that is essentially consumed is aluminum, not water. Chen Tao told reporters that during the working process of the battery, electric energy is continuously output, and metal aluminum is continuously oxidized and consumed to produce aluminum hydroxide. The emergence of electric energy is based on the consumption of aluminum containing chemical energy. The 100 kg aluminum-air battery stores enough power to travel 3000 kilometers. After 3000 kilometers, the battery's life is over, and it needs to be reinstalled, that is, to replenish the metal aluminum. According to reports, aluminum-air batteries have come out as early as the 1960s. But until now, most of its research is still at the theoretical stage, and there are not many practical applications. At home, most of its research focuses on emergency power supplies; while abroad, scientists are studying certain electrode materials, or studying battery systems for special applications, and are trying to find breakthroughs in aluminum-air battery application technology. 3. Safety risks to be tested and inconvenience is currently the biggest bottleneck of aluminum-air batteries. Chen Tao believes that in addition to the inconvenience of batteries that store electrical energy, they also have many inconveniences compared with other gas fuel power batteries. For example, hydrogen fuel power batteries can easily fill, store, and transport hydrogen to chemical reaction devices. It is obviously inconvenient for aluminum as a solid metal. Secondly, there are many side reactions, the reaction process is not easy to control, and some reaction products hinder the reaction from continuing to a certain extent, release a lot of heat, and at the same time, flammable and explosive gases appear. In the development of electric vehicles, aluminum seems to be playing a more important role. An interesting phenomenon is that the endurance of Tesla electric vehicles in the United States can be increased to 300 kilometers to 400 kilometers. The batteries used are mainly nickel-cobalt-aluminum ternary materials, while my country's electric vehicles use nickel-cobalt-manganese. The difference in metal is aluminum. The aluminum material used in Tesla is mainly used in batteries that can store electrical energy multiple times. Its purpose is to increase the energy density of the battery. A battery of the same weight can store more electrical energy, allowing the car to have a longer driving range. Chen Tao believes that from this point of view, it is indeed a breakthrough. However, the resulting security risks need to be further tested in practice. It is difficult to popularize electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. The biggest obstacle is the limited driving range. The current endurance is mostly between 135 kilometers and 480 kilometers. Unless there are a large number of fast charging stations along the way, it is not suitable to drive electric vehicles for long journeys. A small number of vehicles larger than 200 kilometers are extremely expensive and cannot be popularized. Disclaimer: Some pictures and content of articles published on this site are from the Internet, if there is any infringement, please contact to delete. Previous: Future development direction of power battery technology