Salt Water Lead to Safer Batteries

Dec-09-15 Researchers have created a “Water-in-Salt” lithium-ion battery that eliminates fire risk and is safer to use in confined spaces.

Created by a team from University of Maryland and the US Army Research Laboratory, the new Water-in-Salt battery is the first successful example of a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) forming in an aqueous solution. The SEI is a necessary component in batteries, because it enables the battery to work at high voltages and discharge more slowly.

To create a safer battery, the team developed a water-based electrolyte with an extremely high salt to water content of six to one. This concentration allowed a SEI to form and raised the maximum voltage from 1.23 V to 3 V. According to UMD Postdoctoral Research Associate Liumin Suo, “Prior to this work no one thought it possible to form SEI in water-based [batteries], but we demonstrated that it can happen.”

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