Chinese Scientists Propose Mars Battery with High Energy Density and Long Cycle Life
TapTechNews August 27th news, the team led by Tan Peng, a special-appointed professor in the Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of China, proposed a Mars battery that uses the Martian atmosphere as the direct fuel, which can achieve high energy density and long cycle performance.
Currently, the relevant results have been published in Science Bulletin under the title of A high-energy-density and long-cycling-lifespan Mars battery (TapTechNews attaches DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.06.033).
It is introduced that this Mars battery measures an energy density of 373.9 Wh/kg at 0°C low temperature and has a cycle life of 1375 hours (about 2 Martian months). This research provides a concept verification for the application of Mars batteries in the actual Martian environment.
The University of Science and Technology of China stated that the electrochemical performance of the Mars battery has significant temperature dependence in the range of 0-60°C. Under high temperature conditions, the voltage gap is 1.6 V, the rate is 0.4 A/g, and the power density is 3.9 W/m².
Specifically, this battery is accompanied by the electrochemical reaction of the generation and decomposition of lithium carbonate during the charge and discharge process. Through the integrated electrode preparation and the folded battery structure design, the team enlarged the cell size to 2×2 cm², further increasing the energy density of the soft pack battery to 765 Wh/kg and 630 Wh/L.
