Magnesium batteries

Aurbach D, Lu Z, Schechter A, Gofer Y, Gizbar H, Turgeman R, Cohen Y, Moshkovich M, Levi E (2000) Prototype systems for rechargeable magnesium batteries. Nature 407 ... 

Murphy, J. and Wood, D., Magnesium Battery Program, Proceedings of the 21st Power Sources Symposium, Atlantic City, NJ, p. 100, 1967. 

A number of cylindrical and flat magnesium-based cells have been developed on a commercial scale, mainly for military applications where high discharge currents and low unit weight are important. However, for most of these applications, magnesium batteries have now been replaced by various lithium/organic systems. There are no commercial aluminium-based Leclanchd cells. Magnesium and aluminium are both exploited as anodes in metal-air cells which are considered below. 

Additionally, there are several magnesium batteries that are experimental, or in various stages of development iii) Magnesium-air batteries are also aqueous, primary batteries, but these use oxygen from the air for reduction at the cathode. Although much effort has been devoted for their development, up to date they have not been commercialized, iv) Magnesium-organic solvent... 

Nonaqueous solvents can form electrolyte solutions, using the appropriate electrolytes. The evaluation of nonaqueous solvents for electrochemical use is based on factors such as -> dielectric constant, -> dipole moment, - donor and acceptor number. Nonaqueous electrochemistry became an important subject in modern electrochemistry during the last three decades due to accelerated development in the field of Li and Li ion - batteries. Solutions based on ethers, esters, and alkyl carbonates with salts such as LiPF6, LiAsly, LiN(S02CF3)2, LiSOjCFs are apparently stable with lithium, its alloys, lithiated carbons, and lithiated transition metal oxides with red-ox activity up to 5 V (vs. Li/Li+). Thereby, they are widely used in Li and Li-ion batteries. Nonaqueous solvents (mostly ethers) are important in connection with other battery systems, such as magnesium batteries (see also -> nonaqueous electrochemistry). 

Zinc perchlorate and magnesium perchlorate can be used as electrolytes in aqueous -> zinc and primary - magnesium batteries. For example, zinc perchlorate is used as an electrolyte in dry cells comprising zinc anodes and manganese dioxide cathodes. 

Sivasamy, K. Rajeswari, S. Dakshinamurthi, K. Substituted m-dinitrobenzene as cathodic depolarizer in magnesium battery. Btdl. Electrochent. 1989,5, 29-32. 

Khoo T, Somers A, Torriero AAJ, MacFariane DR, Howlett PC, Forsyth M (2013) Discharge behaviour and interfacial properties of a magnesium battery incorporating trihexyl(tetradecyl) phosphonium based ionic liquid electrolytes. Electrochim Acta 87 701-708... 

TABLE 9.1 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Magnesium Batteries... 

Furthermore the use of this magnesium battery is declining significantly, as the present trend is towards the use of lithium primary and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. 

The shelf life of the magnesium/manganese dioxide primary battery at various storage temperatures is compared with the shelf life of the zinc-carbon battery in Fig. 9.11. The magnesium battery is noted for its excellent shelf life. The battery can be stored for periods of 5 years or longer at 20°C with a total capacity loss of 10 to 20% and at temperatures as... 

L. Jarvis, Low Cost, Improved Magnesium Battery, in Proc. 35th Power Sources Symp., New York, 1992, p. 26. 

The advantages and disadvantages of the various water-activated magnesium batteries are given in Table 17.1. 

The principal overall and current-producing reactions for the water-activated magnesium batteries are as follows ... 

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