Next-gen seawater batteries stand 380,000 charging cycles, could replace li-ion

Interesting Engineering ^ | March 24, 2025 | Kapil Kajal

[xp38]

Wang was once a big tech company but I hear there are a lot of Wangs.

[crusty old prospector]

I never trust a scientist named Wang.

[Tell It Right]

..: for large-scale energy storage required for the electrical grid

The electrical grid needs dependable energy sources, not “storage”.

[skyman]

Been hearing about supposed better, safer batteries for years, but they never seem to happen.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

As the push for renewable energy intensifies

There are, as far as I can see, two kinds of 'pushing' happening. One is the government push (mandates, subsidies, etc). The other push is when the EV runs out of 'E' and needs to be pushed off the road. Come to think of it, many car rental companies are pushing to get rid of the EVs they foolishly purchased. School districts that foolishly bought EV busses have pushed them aside.

And so it goes.

[TexasGator]

“The electrical grid needs dependable energy sources, not “storage”.”

Grids are required to maintain stability in the loss of of a plant or plants. This requires that they have plants in standby or running at less than full power.

Use of storage batteries could be cheaper than maintaining an extra power plant only for reserve.

[TexasGator]

“Been hearing about supposed better, safer batteries for years, but they never seem to happen.”

You need to get out more.

[Oscar in Batangas]

<...seawater as an electrolyte...>

Might make for self-extinguishing battery fires - if there is enough electrolyte.

Endorsed by fire departments everywhere.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

Nothing is cheaper than digging it out of the ground.

[yesthatjallen]

"could"

There's that hedge word again. Lots of articles about things that COULD happen. Still waiting for them TO happen.

[Fai Mao]

Sounds like the “Infinite Improbability Drive” that was powered by a wire in a cup of coffee

[Openurmind]

Salt water batteries are great for deep cycle purposes. But they need to be five times bigger to perform as well as other batteries. For a smaller solar system it would take one the size of a refrigerator to be any good. But the challenge to make them smaller and/or perform better has indeed been the anode cathode material combination. I have played with these quite a bit and tried a lot of metal combinations but just raw metals and/or carbon are still quite limited.

[Carl Vehse]

The text, "... sometimes enduring up to 380,000 charging cycles," is inconsistent with the title, "Next-gen seawater batteries stand 380,000 charging cycles".

[Openurmind]

Lol... I was thinking that too. Seems seawater can easily beat up Lithium Ion batteries so there might be something to this...

[bigbob]

All the more reason Canada needs to be a state

[rlmorel]

I have had my house running on that for years.

Oddly, doesn’t seem to work with Decaf.

[GOPJ]

These anodes are incredibly durable, sometimes enduring up to 380,000 charging cycles. Wang points out that they are also capable of operating efficiently in extreme conditions, including rapid charging and discharging or at low temperatures.

Storage would stop a lot of waste - in cars and homes.

[Deaf Smith]

Does it need to be sea water, or could it just be brine?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"...making it capable of storing diverse ions"

That should make these batteries a real darling to the left. They LOVE diversity. Will we get Ions of Color to work for us?