A research team of the Center for Energy Storage Research in South Korea has developed a next-generation secondary battery that uses zinc metal as an electrode without any risk of explosion or fire.
According to researchers, the battery is safe and can be manufactured as a fiber shape, which means it may potentially be applied as a power source for wearable devices in the future.
Recently, the demand for safe batteries has been rising dramatically, mainly due to fires occurring in electronic devices and the harms they may cause to consumers. Highly flammable electrolytes are the main cause of such fires, but Zn-ion secondary batteries use water-based electrolytes.
The Zn-ion secondary battery developed through this study maintained nearly 100% of its capacity over 1,000 charging cycles, which the researchers attributed to its structural and electrochemical stability, the Phys.org website reported.
The website quoted lead author Dr. Joong-Kee Lee of the Center for Energy Storage Research, as saying: "The high-performance Zn-ion secondary battery developed in this study does not present any potential risks associated with Li-ion batteries, and can be used in many practical real-life applications."
