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| Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) professor Kim Gun-tae, center, poses with his fellow researchers at a UNIST laboratory in Ulsan. / Courtesy of UNIST |
By Yoon Sung-won
As many scientists and enterprises seek the next generation of energy storage devices, a new type of battery using metal and air has been considered a "dream battery" with cheap production costs and high capacity.
A group of chemists in Korea, led by Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) professor Kim Gun-tae, has succeeded in developing a key catalyst to realize the "metal-air" battery, according to the institute, Monday.
The professor said development of the new catalyst will expedite the commercial launch of metal-air batteries.
"With its high electrochemical properties, the new catalyst is expected to play a key role in building a metal-air battery. It will also provide the scientific background to boost stability of the new battery," Kim said.
Their work was revealed in global materials science journal ACS Nano's Oct. 20 edition.
Kim studied industrial chemistry at Kyungpook National University and acquired bachelor's and master's degrees there. He moved to the University of Houston in Texas to acquire his doctorate in 2005.
Kim worked as a researcher at Houston and the University of Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2009. After that, he returned to Korea to become a professor at UNIST.
Throughout his academic career, the professor has specialized in electrochemistry, solid-state chemistry, hydrogen ion fuel cells and metal-air batteries.
Currently, lithium-ion batteries are the most widely used type of secondary fuel cell, especially in small electronics devices such as smartphones. But theoretically, it is difficult to further increase the energy density of these due to technical limits.
For this reason, research for new mid- and large-sized batteries to replace them has been gaining momentum around the globe to meet expanding demand from the electric vehicle market. The metal-air battery has also been highlighted as one of the candidates.
"Compared to other electrochemical cells, the metal-air battery has a simpler structure and uses cheaper materials. Still, it has high electrical capacity and does not create pollutants," Kim said. "For this reason, two types of metal-air batteries ― lithium-air batteries and zinc-air batteries ― have been the most promising candidates for next-generation electric cars."
Kim said the participation of global enterprises in the development of metal-air batteries will speed up the process.
"Though the new battery still needs time to be actually released in the market, technological issues will be addressed shortly as many global enterprises such as Samsung Electronics, Toyota and IBM are heavily investing in the new battery."
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