A new type of fluoride battery has been developed with an energy density up to ten times that of lithium batteries

Fluoride can not only be used to protect teeth, but scientists have also discovered that it can be used as a raw material for batteries. At present, the Honda Research Institute is cooperating with scientists from research institutions such as California Institute of Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and NASA JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)...and other research institutions to research new batteries, and it has been in December 2018. Officially published the paper.

Lithium-ion batteries have a more favorable charging and discharging rate than old batteries such as nickel-metal hydride batteries, and can avoid the defect of poor power due to the memory effect caused by incomplete discharge . However, lithium-ion batteries also have some obvious shortcomings, such as: damage to the environment when lithium and cobalt are mined, and the battery itself has the risk of overheating, explosion or fire. New fluoride batteries can not only avoid the above shortcomings, in fact, scientists have discovered as early as the 1970s that fluorine is very suitable for the characteristics of batteries.

Because fluorine (F) is negatively charged and belongs to the most electronegativity (electronegativity) element in the periodic table (it is the opposite of lithium, which is easy to lose electrons. ), it is very easy to 'capture' electrons, so it has excellent electrical conductivity and will be combined with copper to make a cathode. Its three fluorine atoms can be combined with copper (copper-lanthanum trifluoride, Cu@LaF3), which is comparable to lithium Only one atom is used as the battery anode (LiCoO2: only one electron can be provided) to provide three electrons, so the energy density can reach 10 times that of current lithium-ion batteries, which can increase the endurance of electric vehicles, smart phones...8 Times.

But because the fluoride battery must be heated to about 150 degrees Celsius to work normally, and fluorine itself is very active and corrosive, and it is even easy to combine with inert gases, so High temperature will make it overly active and increase the risk, so it has not been taken seriously.

The research team found that a BTFE electrolyte (bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)ether, based on a dry tetraalkylammonium fluoride salt in an ether solvent) can It is easy to dissolve fluorine into ionic state at room temperature and it can shuttle back and forth stably inside the battery, which greatly reduces the threshold for the use of fluoride batteries. In addition, before the high manufacturing cost of graphene solid-state batteries can not be mass-produced, fluoride batteries are also likely to replace lithium-ion batteries.

As for when it will be mass-produced, there is no further news yet. There is still a need for breakthroughs in simplifying the coating process, extending the life of battery cathodes and anodes, and greater power density... etc.