Liquid Metal Batteries
Scape @ Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:25 pm
Ted Video: The missing link to renewable energy
$1:
What's the key to using alternative energy, like solar and wind? Storage -- so we can have power on tap even when the sun's not out and the wind's not blowing. In this accessible, inspiring talk, Donald Sadoway takes to the blackboard to show us the future of large-scale batteries that store renewable energy. As he says: "We need to think about the problem differently. We need to think big. We need to think cheap."
Donald Sadoway is working on a battery miracle -- an inexpensive, incredibly efficient, three-layered battery using “liquid metal."
Donald Sadoway is working on a battery miracle -- an inexpensive, incredibly efficient, three-layered battery using “liquid metal."
Bruce_E_T @ Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:51 pm
This actually looks to me to be feasible. Not so sure about the cheap part though. It seems to me that containing liquid metal and power surges may be quite tricky on a large scale. I am not sure about Sb but Mg is a very reactive substance and could do major damage if leaked.
This stuff has to be tried though as volatile energy sources like wind and solar need adequate storage units in order to be effective.
The guys presentation was so smooth it made me nervous.
Antimony (Sb) is classed as a Metalloid, formerly called a transition metal I believe, not very reactive, used in alloys, microelectronics and mixed with Lead in Lead-acid batteries Poisonous. (Not that there are any metals that are actually good for you.)