SYDNEY, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Australian engineers have developed a cutting-edge water-based battery that could make rooftop solar energy storage safer, cheaper, and more efficient for households, Monash University said on Tuesday.
The next-generation "flow battery" uses a newly engineered membrane that allows faster charging speeds, solving a major limitation of earlier designs, said a press release from the Melbourne-based university.
Traditionally used for large-scale storage, flow batteries have been too bulky and slow for residential use, but this new design overcomes those barriers for home use, said the release.
"We've developed a new type of membrane inside the battery that guides the flow of materials better, kind of like adding lanes to a highway. That means faster charging, longer battery life and better performance overall," said Monash University's PhD candidate Liang Wanqiao, the study's lead author.
Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which rely on solid materials, flow batteries store energy in liquid form, offering safer and more sustainable operation, according to the study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, a journal of the German Chemical Society.
The Monash team's membrane also outperforms the industry-standard Nafion, completing 600 high-current cycles with virtually no capacity loss, the study said, adding it is non-toxic, non-flammable, and made from abundant materials, perfect for home garages.
After being tested in real-world conditions, the battery could hit the market within a few years, expected to be significantly cheaper than the 10,000 Australian dollars (6,422 U.S. dollars) of today's lithium-ion systems, it said. ■
