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Seawater batteries are the next generation of energy storage, efficiently storing and releasing electricity from seawater. A key challenge for their commercialization—involving cost-effective catalyst materials—has recently been successfully tackled by researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) in South Korea.
A team of scientists led by Professor Dong Woog Lee at UNIST’s School of Energy and Chemical Engineering has developed a high-performance catalyst for seawater batteries by combining urea with wood waste.
Performance tests with the new catalyst applied to seawater cell electrodes showed that its performance was on par with traditional platinum catalysts. Importantly, the overvoltage was lower than that of platinum (Pt/C) catalysts.
Affordable catalyst
Seawater batteries, using abundant seawater as the cathode material, offer economic benefits but suffer from slow kinetics and high overpotential, limiting efficiency. Electrocatalysts are essential for improving performance. While precious metals like platinum have been traditionally used as catalysts, their high cost limits their scalability.
The catalyst was developed using affordable lignin and urea. Lignin, a by-product that accounts for 15% to 35% of wood, is produced during paper and biofuel manufacturing. Urea, rich in nitrogen, is commonly found in industrial wastewater. This innovative catalyst reduces the overvoltage required for seawater cells and accelerates electrochemical reactions, enabling quicker electricity discharge.
The research team achieved nitrogen doping throughout the lignin structure by heating it to 800°C and reacting it with urea at the same temperature. This process created a high-performance catalyst, where the nitrogen incorporation reduces the energy needed for electricity discharge and replaces specific carbon atoms in the lignin matrix.
Carbon-neutral approach
A lower overvoltage results in a greater proportion of chargeable energy being effectively utilized during discharge. The maximum power density achieved was 15.76 mW/cm², closely approaching the 16.15 mW/cm² of the platinum catalyst, which is a key indicator of discharge speed.
“We have proposed a carbon-neutral approach that not only replaces expensive precious metal catalysts but also maximizes the value of biomass and industrial waste. This innovative catalyst could be applied in various energy storage systems, including metal-air batteries,” Lee explained.
As explained in the abstract release by Lee’s team, the findings further show the potential of lignin and urea as effective electrocatalysts, advancing seawater battery performance and supporting the development of sustainable energy storage solutions.
Recently, notable breakthroughs have led to the development of a sustainable method for efficiently extracting lithium from seawater, addressing the increasing demand for renewable energy.
One of them is The Solar Transpiration-Powered Lithium Extraction and Storage (STLES) device, which utilizes sunlight to extract and store lithium from brine. By using iron phosphate electrodes, which selectively capture lithium ions from saltwater, the method enables the release of lithium into fresh water.
The approach is seen as a cleaner alternative to traditional lithium mining, which typically involves harmful chemical processes and significant land disruption, supporting claims that seawater extraction could offer a more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions.
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