Batteries have long been big polluters. Their insides contain chemical electrolytes which allow us to power our electronics, but are toxic when disposed of. Now scientists say they have developed a battery that replaces those polluting chemicals with water instead.
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00:00Batteries have long been polluters.
00:06That's because their insides contain chemical electrolytes which allow us to power our electronics
00:10but are toxic when disposed of.
00:12Now scientists say they have developed a battery that replaces those polluting chemicals with
00:17water instead.
00:18They're calling them aqueous metal ion batteries or water batteries and they use magnesium
00:23or zinc and water instead of more toxic materials.
00:26What's more because they're made of water.
00:28They also won't catch fire or explode if mishandled or stored improperly like traditional
00:32batteries might.
00:33Here's one of the researchers developing the water batteries, Tianyi Ma, to explain
00:38just some of the benefits.
00:39These batteries can be very low cost, highly safe and environmental friendly.
00:46He goes on to say that now they just need to develop new electrode materials which will
00:49help increase the battery's energy density.
00:52Adding that water batteries have the potential to replace acid based batteries in the home
00:56in the next three years and lithium ion batteries in the next five to ten years.
01:01And that's good news, especially considering how difficult it is to dispose of large current
01:05gen batteries and how dependent upon them we're becoming.
01:08Their current battery iteration can power a light for 12 hours on just one day's charge
01:13from a solar panel.