Find out how to make batteries from urine very low cost, high performance

The type of battery that uses electrolytes made from urine appears to be superior in terms of cost, charging times, life expectancy and safety for users.

At school, even children are taught how to create simple batteries with a lemon. But developing commercialization of batteries from available and cheap materials has become difficult for researchers.

The urine component becomes the key to aluminum-ion batteries.

Recently, Stanford University introduced an aluminum-ion battery that uses electrolytes made of urea, the main component of urine (behind water), which gives hope to the industry that is experiencing technical limitations. this.

This is not the first time people generate electricity from urine. Researchers from the University of Bath (UK) have successfully created a type of microbial fuel cell thanks to human urine itself. While experts at the University of the West of England have built a urinal system that converts urine directly into electricity.

Dr. Mirella Di Lorenzo from Bath University once impressed his findings.

In 2015, the group of Professor Hongjie Dai, of Stanford University, introduced the first high-performance aluminum battery, fast charging, durable, cheaper and safer than a Lithium-ion battery with aluminum anode and graphite cathode, and electrolyte. The stool is called EMIC but is quite expensive. Therefore, the discovery of using 100% cheaper alternative to EMIC has become more feasible for commercial production.

"We have a battery made from cheap materials and a big supply on Earth. It really delivers great efficiency," Hongjie Dai said.

Student student Ming Gong (left) and Stanford professor Hongjie Dai have successfully developed an aluminum-ion battery.

Although this battery holds less energy than Lithium-ion (about half), but for higher charging times, explosion resistance, charging for 45 minutes and importantly, is much cheaper.

Urea becomes the ideal material for large-scale battery production due to its abundant reserves and low prices, while the life cycle is high. Currently, urea batteries charge 1,500 times in laboratory conditions, with a lifespan of about 10 years. Researchers also improved current technology, especially reducing costs to the lowest level.

If large-scale production, EMIC is estimated to cost about 50 USD / kg, while current urea is only 0.5 USD / kg. Because the cost of electrolytes accounts for the majority, plus aluminum and graphite are all cheap materials, the total cost of producing batteries is very low.