The story almost reads like the fictionalized invention of Reeses, wherein the chocolate bar collides with an open jar of peanut butter. Battery scientists at the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) were toiling away trying to discover a compatible electrolyte to use with magnesium, because this metal is much more abundant and stable than lithium. (Did you know that lithium can’t be used in a battery as a sheet of metal because it spontaneously ignites in air? That’s why only the ions from the metal are stripped out and embedded in carbon rods for today’s best-in-class Li-ion EV batteries).
The researchers had been trying all sorts of different electrolytes, but all the ones that provided acceptable ionic conductivity included chorides that ultimately caused damaging corrosion to other battery components like steel casings and conductors. They were apparently fretting aloud about this in the TRINA cafeteria just loud enough to be overheard by Toyota Principal Scientist and chemical engineer Rana Mohtadi, a fuel-cell researcher investigating ways of storing hydrogen using catalytic metals. Mohtadi reckoned that some borohydride type materials her team was investigating for catalytic hydrogen storage might have properties that would fit the bill. The initial Mg(BH4)2 electrolytes indeed enabled reversible electron deposition/stripping on magnesium, but with low stability on the anode. The team determined that it is the boron (B) cluster in there that, when aided by acidic protons, gives rise to Grignard reactions that foster electron transfer with magnesium. “We were able to take a material that was only used in hydrogen storage and we made it practical and very competitive for magnesium battery chemistry,” said Mohtadi. “It was exciting.”
The discovery could soon lead to smaller, longer-lasting batteries for everything from cars to cell phones, but there’s a long development road ahead. Toyota cautions it could take 20 years. To hasten that process along, the company is sharing its discovery with others in the battery development world. Fellow researcher Oscar Tutusaus, who collaborated with Mohtadi on the discovery, explained “We want to make this electrolyte a standard for magnesium batteries… and we want other researchers to develop it further so these batteries can see the light of day.”
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