This battery made of crab shells might be the future of renewable energy.
Modern commercial lithium-ion batteries are dominated by conventional lithium-ion batteries, however many of their components are not environmentally friendly.
Now, a team of engineers has designed biodegradable battery components made from—wait for it—crab shells!
A well-known issue prevents the commercialization of zinc-based batteries: The battery's water-based electrolyte contains zinc ions that will crash out and form dendrites over time, which will short the battery.
They created a porous zinc and chitosan battery that outperformed current zinc batteries and maintained almost 100% efficiency even after numerous charging cycles.
The zinc and chitosan began to dissolve after two months, and the structure was completely gone by five months.
In order for renewable energy sources like solar and wind to create power that doesn't require unsustainable techniques to store, Hu and his colleagues are working on a battery that can be entirely destroyed or recycled.