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A rechargeable calcium-oxygen battery that operates at room temperature.

Authors :: Ye L
Liao M
Zhang K
Zheng M
Jiang Y
Cheng X
Wang C
Xu Q
Tang C
Li P
Wen Y
Xu Y
Sun X
Chen P
Sun H
Gao Y
Zhang Y
Wang B
Lu J
Zhou H
Wang Y
Xia Y
Xu X
Peng H
Source :: Nature [Nature] 2024 Feb; Vol. 626 (7998), pp. 313-318. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 07.
Publication Year :: 2024
Abstract: Calcium-oxygen (Ca-O <subscript>2</subscript> ) batteries can theoretically afford high capacity by the reduction of O <subscript>2</subscript> to calcium oxide compounds (CaO <subscript>x</subscript> ) at low cost <superscript>1-5</superscript> . Yet, a rechargeable Ca-O <subscript>2</subscript> battery that operates at room temperature has not been achieved because the CaO <subscript>x</subscript> /O <subscript>2</subscript> chemistry typically involves inert discharge products and few electrolytes can accommodate both a highly reductive Ca metal anode and O <subscript>2</subscript> . Here we report a Ca-O <subscript>2</subscript> battery that is rechargeable for 700 cycles at room temperature. Our battery relies on a highly reversible two-electron redox to form chemically reactive calcium peroxide (CaO <subscript>2</subscript> ) as the discharge product. Using a durable ionic liquid-based electrolyte, this two-electron reaction is enabled by the facilitated Ca plating-stripping in the Ca metal anode at room temperature and improved CaO <subscript>2</subscript> /O <subscript>2</subscript> redox in the air cathode. We show the proposed Ca-O <subscript>2</subscript> battery is stable in air and can be made into flexible fibres that are weaved into textile batteries for next-generation wearable systems.<br /> (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)