Germany’s energy transition is steadily progressing; but equally important as growing the share of renewable energy, is ensuring there’s enough sustainable storage capacity to match it. Unfortunately, conventional lithium-ion-based storage falls short of the mark in several aspects: lithium mining is not environmentally friendly, the metal is expensive and increasingly critical and Li-ion-Lithium ion batteries present a fire hazard.

A team from the University of Bremen are therefore researching a far cleaner technology with the goal of moving it one step closer to commercial viability. "There is an emerging green energy storage technology based on abundant and inexpensive metallic zinc. Aqueous zinc-ion batteries could solve the current problems!" claims Professor Fabio La Mantia, head of the Energy Storage and Conversion Systems unit in a press release.

Aqueous zinc-ion (Zn-ion) batteries are composed primarily of metallic zinc and other inexpensive and non-toxic materials; and because they’re water-based, there’s no fire or explosion risk. But the technology is far from being market-ready. La Mantia’s research group will develop novel zinc-based anodes to improve the stability and lifetime of Zn-ion batteries, while investigating alternative cathode materials and the optimisation of aqueous electrolytes.

La Mantia and his team first shared their findings in Nature Communications where they outlined the important challenges scientists face in advancing this novel battery technology. The goal of the project, according to the professor, is “to accelerate the commercialisation of this promising, environmentally-friendly battery technology."

Zn-ion batteries have the potential not only to bring down the final price of green energy but also to reduce environmental pollution. The research group is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).