In the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, a breakthrough in battery technology is helping to overcome one of the biggest challenges for electric vehicles: limited driving range. Researchers at the Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed a new type of aluminum-air battery enhanced with graphene, which promises to significantly increase the endurance of electric cars.
This innovative kilowatt-class battery has an energy density more than four times that of current lithium-ion batteries. With just one kilogram of aluminum, an electric vehicle can travel up to 60 kilometers, effectively doubling its range. This advancement could revolutionize the market for range extenders in electric vehicles, offering a promising solution to "range anxiety."
The battery system has an impressive energy density of 510Wh/kg and a capacity of 20kWh, with an output power of 1,000W. During testing, it successfully powered multiple devices simultaneously, including a TV, a computer, an electric fan, and ten 60W light bulbs, demonstrating its practical power generation capability.
Liu Zhaoping, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Graphene Application Research, highlighted the benefits of using this battery in electric vehicles, noting that it could lead to lighter vehicles with longer ranges. Additionally, if applied to portable power banks, the battery could offer higher output power. Compared to traditional lead-acid batteries used in communication base stations, which need replacement every 3-4 years, the aluminum-air battery from Ningbo Materials has a much longer lifespan—up to 15 years.
"Aluminum-air batteries offer significant advantages such as high energy density, low cost, abundant resources, environmental friendliness, and long discharge life," Liu said. These features make them highly attractive for applications like backup power for communication base stations and range extenders for electric vehicles.
Graphene has played a key role in advancing this technology. By using a graphene composite manganese-based oxide catalyst and a new graphene-based air cathode, researchers increased the power density of individual cells by 25%, greatly enhancing the overall performance of metal-air batteries.
The research team is currently working on a 5kW high-power aluminum-air battery system tailored for communication base station backup power and electric vehicle range extension. In addition, the Ningbo Institute has invested 3 million yuan to purchase a custom production line for pilot testing, expected to be completed by the end of August. This facility will be capable of producing 35,000 cathodes annually, paving the way for mass production of this "super energy battery" in the future.
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