Could antimony be a viable alternative to a liquid-metal battery?

For more exclusive content and features, consider Joining IEEE . Antimony is a chemical element that could find new life in the cathode of a liquid-metal battery design. Cost is a crucial variable for any battery that could serve as a viable option for renewable energy storage on the grid.

How does an antimony battery work?

When an antimony battery is discharging, the cell voltage drives electrons from the magnesium electrode and delivers power to the external load. Afterward, the electrons return back into the antimony electrode, causing magnesium ions to pass through the salt and attach to the antimony ions, forming a magnesium-antimony alloy.

Is molten metals pursuing antimony production in North America?

Molten Metals Corp., a Canadian mineral-exploration company, is also pursuing antimony production in North America. The company has mineral rights to an antimony mine in Nova Scotia that has been abandoned since the 1960s.

Why do antimony base metal anodes have high cycling stability?

This is attributable to their compositional disorder and structural disorder. This property can effectively alleviate the structural internal stresses generated in the alloying mechanism of antimony-based metals and their derivatives. This provides a clear idea for developing antimony base metal anodes with high cycling stability.

Can antimony materials be used in commercial production?

The composite modification means can realize more considerable electrochemical performance enhancement [5, 58]. Therefore, choosing pure antimony material may be one of the first choices for commercial production. In the sequel, we present applications of Sb-based anode materials and their derivatives and discuss their practical feasibility.

Why is antimony under intense study?

Antimony is under intense study because of its unique and physical properties such as in investigations as a potential new nanocomposite (consisting of Sb2O3 and Fe3O4) for use as new anode materials for lithium-ion batteries and for other high technology applications.