POWER, UNLIMITED POWER: Zinc-Air Batteries Research Could be a Game-Changer for Consumer Tech.

Zinc-air batteries are powered by a mix of zinc metal and oxygen. Zinc is an incredibly cheap and abundant metal, and oxygen is everywhere. The design allows these batteries to store up to five times more energy than lithium-ion batteries, and, notably, zinc is less harmful on the environment: Because zinc is low in toxicity, there’s not as severe of an impact on the environment when the batteries are trashed or recycled, and little concern that the degradation of those batteries could harm surrounding ecosystems. No special steps are needed (assuming its a mercury-free design) to throw them away. All of this is to say that on paper, zinc-air batteries ought to be wildly popular.

The major obstacle, however, is that zinc-air batteries are difficult to recharge. The discharge and charge process requires “bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts” to facilitate the reduction and generation of oxygen. In the case of zinc-air batteries, electrocatalysts have proved too expensive for all but a few limited uses, like some hearing aids.

With that problem in mind, a new, cheaper method for creating battery electrocatalysts could be a game-changer. Here’s how they did it: Researchers create catalysts with a three-step process, involving the simultaneous control of a metal oxide’s composition, size, and crystallinity.
Through this approach, an electrocatalyst can be comprised of much more common metals like iron, cobalt, and nickel.

A longer-lasting battery that’s also cheaper to replace would be nice for phones, but could be a game-changer for electric cars.