The Solid State Materials Chemistry group, ESYMAT, has started a new line of
research dedicated to the development of new materials for magnesium batteries
and their future use in portable electronic devices or electric vehicles. The
project titled 'Better magnesium batteries for a more sustainable society', led
by Professor Alois Karl Kuhn,
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, has recently been funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation as
part of the Projects on Ecological
Transition and Digitisation Transition (TED). The research team is made up
of the university's professors, Flaviano
García Alvarado, Pilar Díaz Carrasco,
José Ángel Martínez González and
researchers Julián Cáceres Murillo and
Nerea Solís Barba, as well as
researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of
Bialystok (Poland).
"Batteries
play a central role in driving the electrification of our society, especially
in carbon-free land mobility. However, current lithium-ion batteries, based on
essential raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, cannot meet the demands,
energy requirements and environmental economic sustainability due to the
increasing demand for long-life electronic devices and the imperative need to extend
the still limited range of electric vehicles," explains Professor
Alois Kuhn.
In addition, safety issues associated with
lithium-ion batteries remain unresolved. Kuhn stresses: "There is therefore an urgent need to develop
new and sustainable systems for energy storage. Since magnesium is much more
abundant and cheaper than lithium, magnesium batteries are a very promising
alternative to lithium-ion batteries”.
The ESYMAT
group's project focuses on the development
of more efficient, clean, safe, economical, and environmentally friendly and
sustainable magnesium battery cathodes to promote a zero carbon scenario
and contribute to mitigating climate change. The research is part of the
strategic project aimed at the ecological and digital transition of the State Plan for Scientific and Technical
Research and Innovation for the period 2021-2023, within the framework of
the Recovery, Transformation and
Resilience Plan, in line with the 'Horizon
2020' programme on Research and Innovation for Sustainable Batteries.