"If you use magnesium, you can use abundant and stable solar energy in the desert area" - Prof. Mariko Kobayashi, a professor at Tohoku University's Future Science and Technology Center in Japan, proposed a new idea of ​​using magnesium (Mg) fuel cells to harness solar energy. We will promote development for practical use. Prof. Kobayashi gave a special speech at the 43rd Symposium on Reliability and Maintenance held in Tokyo on July 2 (organizer: Japan Science and Technology Alliance) and introduced the concept.

Magnesium fuel cells (also known as magnesium air cells) are a kind of metal air battery, which is a disposable battery using magnesium as a negative electrode and oxygen in the air as a positive electrode material. The phenomenon that electrons are released after the combination of magnesium and hydroxide ions is used, and the magnesium of the negative electrode becomes magnesium hydroxide after use.

Professor Kohama’s idea is to use the solar energy in the desert to perform thermal reduction on the electrodes of magnesium fuel cells used in Japan to recover magnesium. In other words, magnesium is used in the rich solar energy in the desert, and magnesium is transported to Japan. After being used up, it is recovered and transported to the desert where it is extracted by solar energy to obtain magnesium that can be used again as an electrode. Moreover, according to Prof. Mariko Ko, it is also expected that the reduction of magnesium hydroxide in Japan will be carried out using Japanese factories, waste heat from waste incineration plants, and biomass fuels.

In fact, the magnesium fuel cell itself is not new. Although its energy density is higher than that of lithium ion rechargeable batteries, it has received much attention. However, magnesium is not only flammable, but also dissolves in salt water as an electrolytic solution. Therefore, safety and long-term use performance have been the subject of practical application.

Professor Xiaobin and others solved the problem. Professor Kobayashi has been developing a high-speed transportation system that utilizes the ground effect (a phenomenon in which an aircraft flying near the ground generates a large lift force), but he discovered that a flame-retardant magnesium alloy used for lightening a vehicle body can be used as a magnesium fuel. The negative electrode of the battery is used.

As a result, Prof. Kobayashi cooperated with the Japan Industrial Technology General Research Institute, Furukawa Battery Co., Ltd., and Japanese material companies to develop high-performance magnesium fuel cells using this flame-retardant magnesium alloy with added aluminum and calcium. A technical proposal is made that the negative electrode that has been changed into magnesium hydroxide after being used by hot reduction is made into magnesium again. This thermal reduction technique utilizes a solar furnace that collects sunlight using concave reflectors to obtain high temperatures. It is said that if a temperature of about 1200°C can be obtained, thermal reduction can be performed. Prof. Kohama et al. also conducted an experiment to recover used magnesium hydroxide in the form of a magnesium metal foil using a solar furnace having a diameter of about 1.5 m.

Professor Xiaobin said: "Magnesium is not as risky as nuclear power, it is not as depleted as fossil fuels, and there is absolutely no environmental problem such as greenhouse gas emissions. It is a clean fuel." Magnesium is also very abundant in seawater. rich. The use of magnesium to generate electricity can effectively convert solar energy into electricity. Professor Xiaobin calls this system “fuel farming”. Compared with a hydrogen fuel cell that has already been put to practical use, the magnesium fuel cell has an advantage in that it can obtain equivalent power generation in a small amount and is easy to carry. According to Professor Xiaobin’s calculation, 28.4g of magnesium has the same energy as 60L of hydrogen.

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