Battery technologies are evolving at a rapid pace and for good reason. As the automotive world appears to be making a shift toward electrification, companies must find solutions to produce electric vehicles at scale. Although lithium-ion battery technology dominates today, that doesn't stop suppliers from working on the future.
From solid-state power units to structural batteries to sci-fi quantum batteries, there is no shortage of ideas and concepts. However, Australian company Gelion Technologies believes it has found a more affordable and sustainable approach with its zinc-bromine gel battery. Unlike lithium-ion units, the material found in Gelion's design is not rare, expensive, or potentially flammable.
While zinc-bromine has been used for high-rate batteries in the past, the company has scaled down the design to fit automotive applications. Each Gelion battery consists of negatively charged zinc plates and positive bromine ions separated by an internal membrane. As a result, the exclusive gel developed by the firm avoids the risk of inflammation.
Gelion also claims that the specially formulated gel allows engineers to control the battery's discharge rate by adjusting the viscosity of the gel. Additionally, the composition of the zinc-bromine battery is also more stable, with Gelion reporting that its gel accepts temperature variations of -15 to 50°C. This temperature resistance not only helps during battery use, but is also beneficial during continuous rapid charge cycles.
Gelion's battery may seem simple on the surface, but the team still needs to understand how the zinc-bromine unit reacts to fast chargers available on the market. However, with zinc nine times more abundant than lithium and much less expensive, the new battery certainly poses a new alternative to current technologies.
The Australian company will continue development of its battery until 2023, when it plans to release its first zinc-bromine model, the Endure. Gelion will test its units in electric cars; it remains to be seen how the technology will influence the ever-growing electric vehicle market in the years to come.
