Electric vehicles and grid storage systems depend heavily on lithium and other costly metals.
Researchers in Japan now say a magnesium-air rechargeable battery built with a graphene-based cathode could offer a cheaper and safer alternative.
A team at the University of Tsukuba has developed an all-solid-state magnesium-air battery that resists the chemical degradation that has long limited this technology.
The design replaces platinum-based cathodes with nitrogen-doped porous graphene and uses a solid polymer electrolyte infused with magnesium chloride.
Magnesium-air batteries use oxygen from the air as the active material at the cathode. In theory, they can deliver energy densities comparable to lithium-air systems.
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