Hydrogen Fuel-Powered Lithium Batteries: The Ultimate Therapy for New Energy?

Lead-acid batteries are an important part of power lithium-ion batteries on the market, and lithium-ion batteries are a small part of fuel-powered lithium batteries.

Whether or not fuel-powered lithium batteries are the ultimate solution to new energy, here are some numbers.

Both lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries are energy storage batteries (secondary batteries), that is, they must be charged and then discharged, and their essence is a reversible reaction of redox of metal elements. Take lead-acid batteries as an example (as shown in the figure below). From left to right is the discharge process, and from right to left is the charging process. According to electron conservation, the response is a 2-electron response. Lithium-ion batteries work similarly, but with only one electron transfer response.

As you can see from the periodic table, the molecular weight of lead is 207.2 and the molecular weight of lithium is 6.9, which means that for each electron transported, the difference between lead and lithium is 103.6 and 6.9.
Let's look at a hydrogen fuel powered lithium battery, where hydrogen and oxygen (air) are separated at the anode and cathode, react and discharge under the use of a catalyst. The equation tells us that each hydrogen atom can carry one electron, and the hydrogen required to carry one electron is 1.

In contrast, hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries require less mass to carry electrons than lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries, in short, higher energy density. The energy density of hydrogen energy has obvious advantages.

In fact, it's much more than that. Because in the actual response, the energy conversion of the battery will be lost, and the charge-discharge process of the secondary battery is more serious than the direct discharge loss of the fuel-powered lithium battery. Since it is not constrained by the Carnot cycle, the theoretical energy conversion power of the fuel-powered lithium battery can reach more than 90%, and the actual power can reach 60%.

In the process of practical application, hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries also have the unparalleled advantages of energy storage batteries, that is, charging for five minutes, the battery life is 1,000 miles, and hydrogen charging for 5 minutes to travel 500 kilometers. Still lying on the charging pile and showing energy.

In theory, hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries could be the ultimate solution for new vehicles, combining the high energy ratio, charging and running capabilities of gasoline-powered vehicles, and the pollution-free advantages of high conversion power over energy storage batteries.

Why haven't hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles hit the road yet? This talks about several roadblocks on the road for hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles.

What about hydrogen fuel-powered lithium-ion battery vehicles?

First, if a car wants to hit the road, it has to be more than just a car's job. It involves the processing, storage and transportation of hydrogen and the charging of hydrogen vehicles at hydrogen refueling stations. The assembly requirements of the same fuel-powered lithium battery system include components such as plates, electrolytes, exchange membranes, catalysts, and soot layers.

The question is, how to make hydrogen? At present, the mainstream methods of hydrogen production include coal-to-hydrogen production, chlor-alkali by-product hydrogen production, electrolysis hydrogen production, etc. This drawback is still very obvious.

Relevant analysis shows that in the production of hydrogen from coal, let alone coalification, there are several processes in which it is easy to poison the battery catalyst, assuming that the hydrogen contains impure carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide. The processing of chlor-alkali by-product hydrogen depends on the processing layout of industrial products and is not suitable for large-scale promotion.

Hydrogen production from water electrolysis requires a long road from other energy sources, electrical energy, chemical energy, and electrical energy, but it is assumed that the initial energy sources are clean energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy.

Furthermore, hydrogen is a gas with a very low bulk density, which makes storage and transportation very difficult. One is the low energy storage rate, and the other is the poor safety. Coupled with the fact that there are fewer layouts of hydrogen stations now, it is difficult to generate scale effects in a short period of time.