Inorganic Battery Materials

Multivalent Metallic Anodes for Rechargeable Batteries

Jennifer L. Schaefer and Laura C. Merrill

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

1. 1 Introduction
2. 2 Zinc Anodes
3. 3 Iron Anodes
4. 4 Magnesium Anodes
5. 5 Aluminum Anodes
6. 6 Calcium Anodes
7. 7 Conclusions
8. 8 Related Article
9. 9 Abbreviations and Acronyms
10. 10 References

1 Introduction

Multivalent metallic anode materials are sought after to serve as an alternative to lithium‐ion anodes or lithium metal. The materials discussed in this chapter are less reactive compared to the alkali metal anodes (lithium, sodium, and potassium), making them less facile in electrolyte decomposition and, in some respects, safer. The state of art, challenges, and prospects of magnesium, aluminum, calcium, zinc, and iron anodes will be reviewed in this chapter. Because many of these technologies encompass decades of research, only the most important historical aspects and latest modern work will be discussed.

The draw of multivalent anodes lies in the capacities and abundances of the materials. The theoretical capacity of the anode material, Q (Ah g⁻¹), can be calculated as shown in Equation 1.

1

where n is the number of electrons, F is Faraday's constant, and MW is the molecular weight. Therefore, a multivalent metal will then double or triple the capacity for a compound with the same molecular weight. Another parameter to consider is the reduction potential ...