New Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries Coming Soon

Published on October 29th, 2009

(PhysOrg.com) – A new breed of rechargeable zinc-air batteries is soon to be available, and may replace lithium-ion batteries in cell phones, laptops and other consumer items. Lithium-ion batteries store only a third of the energy and cost around twice as much as the new batteries.

The Swiss company ReVolt, from Staefa, plans to release the new batteries next year, initially as small batteries for use in hearing aids, and later for cell phones. Eventually much larger batteries are planned for electric vehicles.
[...]
Zinc-air batteries need oxygen from the air to generate the current. They are safer than lithium-ion batteries because they do not contain volatile materials, and therefore do not catch fire. Non-rechargeable zinc-air batteries have been available for some time, but rechargeable versions have proved more difficult to develop.

17 users responded in " New Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries Coming Soon "

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# 1 Dallas said, on October 29th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

Very cool.
The danger is the next generation of power generation and battery technologies may come from outside the US – as indicative here.

No thanks to the republican energy strategy of digging for more dead dinosaur juice.

# 2 Improbus said, on October 29th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

The faster we switch to fully electric infrastructure and LFTR reactors the better.

# 3 pedro said, on October 29th, 2009 at 5:03 pm

#1 Very good! Now, take Obama’s book and spend some time in the relief room.

# 4 green said, on October 29th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

Oxygen devouring batteries. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea :/.

Make them eat Co2, jerks.

# 5 ± said, on October 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pm

It’s total bullshit. Reads like Popular Science for the last 40 years where all the hype is turns out to be lies. This is a press release with the intention of raising (more?) venture capital. dvorak.org is the shill. If it was real, it would just happen.

Prove me wrong.

# 6 dining furniture said, on October 29th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Wow! Cool! It looks like a good idea!

# 7 Rick Cain said, on October 29th, 2009 at 6:32 pm

Zinc-Air has been around for some time. I guess this article explains why it hasn’t cornered the market yet.

lets not forget that awhile back lithium-ion was an exotic battery too, now chinese children are putting them together in village factories for 10 cents an hour.

I’m showing my age by saying this too, I remember when Ni-Mh batteries were expensive!

# 8 hhopper said, on October 29th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

Zinc-Air batteries have been around for a while but not the rechargeable ones.

# 9 Awake said, on October 29th, 2009 at 6:44 pm

SAAB and Koenisegg already have a car designed and under test using this technology.

# 10 deowll said, on October 29th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

My car battery died today. I was very happy it was nothing worse and all I had to do was swap it out. The battery was ten years old.

# 11 badtimes said, on October 30th, 2009 at 3:29 am

#4- the oxygen is released when the battery is recharged.

# 12 Jetfire said, on October 30th, 2009 at 5:01 am

So it’s coming out with Duke Nukem Forever.

# 13 jbellies said, on October 30th, 2009 at 5:26 am

Don’t hold your breaths. Slightly OT, but I remember over 15 years ago seeing on the Nature of Things (narrated by David Suzuki) about dual-paned windows that would actually gain energy through a clear-sky north exposure. They were being developed at such-and-such a University in Canada and would start to become available in five years (you’ve heard that one before, eh?).

I waited and waited. Sure, there are Argon-filled windows with e-coatings, but they don’t even come close to gaining energy. They just lose energy a bit slower than the old ones did. I finally went for those because nobody seems to remember the promise. David Suzuki is still around, and he even has a foundation, but that particular road to nirvana is forgotten.

Progress happens. But as a citizen, healthiest to forget the promises.

And oh yes, these advances (even the urban-mythical ones) do sometimes take place outside the USA. Anybody remember Ballard Power Systems (interesting wiki entry “zero emission proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells”) of Burnaby, BC, Canada, once a stock market darling?

# 14 Glass Half Full said, on October 30th, 2009 at 6:22 am

#5 You’re wrong! My flying car and personal jet pack is JUST a year away! Popular Science told me so (every year for 40 years). I’m sure THIS is the year that the crazy backyard inventor who is just “months” away from selling his flying car will ACTUALLY demonstrate it for the press and start selling it. Yep…any day now…any day.

# 15 sargasso said, on October 30th, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Three reasons why this must not succeed – zinc is recyclable, non-toxic and abundant.

# 16 Rick Cain said, on October 30th, 2009 at 7:33 pm

And robots, I want my damn robot!

# 17 Cloud Batteries said, on October 31st, 2009 at 5:31 am

If you believe their pitch I have some clouds to sell you.

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