8.000 charges and hardly any costs: battery made from zinc and waste presented

The small battery cannot keep up with the energy and power density of a lithium-ion battery. But it has other qualities, as demonstrated in a study by Linköping University in Sweden.

The button cells produced there can be recharged 8,000 times, at least in the laboratory. And that's not all. The remaining capacity should still be 80 percent. So if the battery were to be fully charged and discharged every day, the power storage unit would still be usable even after more than 20 years.

At the same time, the researchers have attached great importance to cost-effective and environmentally friendly production. Instead of lithium and cobalt, lignin is used alongside zinc.

Lignin is a polymer produced in plants that gives the fibers their strength. It is left over from the production of paper, for example, and is therefore available in large quantities at low cost.

Zinc, on the other hand, which is primarily used in disposable batteries, can be almost 100 percent recycled from old ones. Thanks to the water-salt electrolyte and the stabilization of the battery cell by lignin, it can also be used in a rechargeable and long-lasting battery.

Research is currently being carried out on a larger version that is roughly equivalent to a typical car battery and should deliver several hundred watts of power. According to the research team, there are no obstacles to industrial production.

One possible area of application would be the temporary storage of electricity from renewable sources. Here, the battery would not only be usable for an extremely long time, but would also be inexpensive, easily recyclable and completely free of scarce raw materials.