(Yicai) Sept. 18 -- A team of Chinese scientists has developed the world's first prototype battery using hydride ions, which have the highest electron density among all forms of hydrogen, laying a new pathway for China's green energy development.

The team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics created an all-solid-state rechargeable hydride ion battery, which uses sodium aluminum hydride, a hydrogen storage material, as the positive electrode and hydrogen-poor cerium dihydride as the negative electrode, according to research findings published in UK scientific journal Nature yesterday.

The battery has an initial specific capacity of 984 milliampere hours per gram and retains 402 mAh per gram after 20 cycles.

A hydride ion battery uses the movement of hydride ions to store and release energy, like the widely used lithium-ion battery, Xinhua News Agency reported today. Hydride ions have higher electron density than hydrogen cations and hydrogen atoms, while they are easily polarized and highly reactive, making them a promising energy carrier.

However, the battery was previously confined to the conceptual stage due to a lack of appropriate electrolyte materials, which should possess high ionic conductivity, low electronic conductivity, good thermal and electrochemical stability, and compatibility with electrode materials, according to the report.

The researchers invented a new core-shell structured composite hydride that serves as the electrolyte to address the problem. The composite has a thin layer of barium hydride coated on cerium trihydride, exhibiting good hydride ion conduction properties at room temperature and excellent thermal and electrochemical stability, making it an ideal electrolyte material.

Based on this configuration, the team also built a stacked battery, increasing the voltage to 1.9 volts and lighting up a light-emitting diode light.

The findings prove the feasibility of the hydride ion battery for powering electronic devices and mark its leap from the conceptual stage to experimental verification, Xinhua noted.

The hydride ion battery represents a new technical route of energy storage, which will likely play an important role in large-scale energy storage, hydrogen storage, mobile power sources, special power sources, and other areas, according to the research.

Editor: Martin Kadiev