Despite various breakthroughs in battery technology, we still rely on tried-and-tested Li-ion, mainly because it’s cheap. In the hunt for an alternative that won’t break the bank, is more environmentally friendly and sustainable, researchers from China have discovered a way to generate power from nitrogen gas – one the most abundant gases in the world.
Nitrogen makes up almost 80 per cent of our atmosphere but nitrogen gas, which consists of two nitrogen atoms held together by a strong triple covalent bond, doesn’t break up easily under normal conditions. This makes it difficult to transfer the chemical energy of the bond into electricity.
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Abigail Beall 