An Experimental Magnesium Ion Battery Cell Made of Flexible Materials

Lithium ion batteries are the subject of much globalattention in the continuing development of advanced energystorage technologies. To date, these batteries offer the bestcombination of energy capacity per gram, cost, and long termcycle stability. However, lithium ion batteries have severaldisadvantages. The materials used in Li-ion batteries arerelatively costly, while capacity is ultimately limited by themonovalent nature of the lithium ion. From the theoreticalperspective, magnesium batteries overcome many of thelimitations present in current Li-ion battery technology. Magnesium is a divalent ion, allowing for twice the theoreticalcapacity of a lithium ion cell. Additionally, magnesium is a muchmore abundant material than lithium, lowering the productioncost. Here, we present a magnesium half-cell battery createdusing flexible materials. A polymer electrolyte made of ethylenecarbonate, propylene carbonate, magnesium perchlorate, andPoly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) was attachedto a Molybdenum Oxide/graphite sheet cathode, and a tininsertion anode. The details of cell fabrication and electricalperformance will be discussed.