When you need a battery that offers better performance than traditional technologies, is more sustainable and more cost-competitive”
The Aluminum-ion battery only uses sustainable raw materials, compatible with humans, with a high recycling rate and very low environmental impact, obtained in an ethical and respectful way both with the environment and with humans.
For the manufacturing of our anodes, we use:
Through fractional crystallization, a segregated manufacturing process, the required energy consumption is dramatically reduced.
They do not contain heavy, toxic or carcinogenic metals (unlike lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries), they are not flammable, they do not generate hot spots during the charging process so they are not prone to burn or explode.
In any of its configurations.
They do not require special conditions in their transport, except those that apply to batteries with liquid electrolyte, or due to electrical risk, if they exceed a direct current voltage in terminals greater than 60 VDC.
They are safer to manufacture, store and transport by land, sea and air.
Aluminum-ion technology received the Seal of Excellence in H2020 EIC Accelerator Pilot – SME Instrument – Green Deal call , in recognition of its quality proposal evaluated in a competitive environment and its contribution to the objective of the European Green Deal related to the transition of the industry towards a clean and circular economy.
From an economic point of view, aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust (8.3% by weight) and the third element with the most presence after oxygen and silicon.
It presents a very advanced and developed industry for its obtention and recycling.
On the other hand, the energy and economic expenditure involved in obtaining the raw materials for aluminum electrodes is between 3 and 5 times lower than that the one necessary for obtaining the raw material for the electrodes in lithium batteries.
The production cost of Aluminum-ion batteries is lower than lithium-ion batteries and is more competitive against lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries.
Since the rest of the raw materials involved do not present volatility in their prices, and some are even obtained as by-products of other processes in the chemical and steel industry, it offers revaluation opportunities and favors the circular economy.
| Technology | Lithium-ion | Lead-acid | Nickel-Cadmium | Aluminium-ion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specific Energy (Wh/kg) | 90 – 200 | 25 – 40 | 20 – 40 | 30 – 80 |
| Cycle life | 2.000 | 1.800 | 1.000 | 6.000 |
| Depth of Discharge, DOD (%) | 80 | 60 | 100 | 100 |
| DOD correction factor(%) | 20 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Roundtrip efficiency (%) | 95 | 70 | 65 | 90 |
| Efficiency correction factor (%) | 5 | 30 | 35 | 10 |
| CAPEX (€/kWh) | 300 | 150 | 400 | 100 |
| Cost of battery storage (per kWh stored and cycle, €/kWh·cycle) | 0,19 | 0,15 | 0,54 | 0,02 |
Aluminum-ion batteries offer 6,000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge, and maintain their initial performances, with an efficiency of 90%.
For a 1 kWh battery, with the same energy input, the cost per kWh and cycle is reduced to € 0.02, compared to € 0.19 / kWh and cycle for a Lithium-ion battery, € 0.15 for Lead-acid € 0.54 for Nickel-Cadmium.
After reaching an appropriate technology readiness level, it is time to leave the laboratory and begin the journey of scaling the technology to a commercial product. With our pilot line of Aluminum-ion cell prototypes we are able to offer different battery solutions for stationary applications.
Interested in learning more about our Aluminum-ion prototypes?
Since its birth in 2013, Albufera has based its main activity on high-quality research for the development of aluminum batteries, through participation in national and international projects, alone or in consortium in relevant calls.
Development of a rechargeable Aluminium-air battery
(2013 - 2015)
Call CDTI
Exp: XP 00065654 / IDI-20131124
High Specific Energy Aluminium-ion rechargeable decentralised electricity generation sources.
(2015 - 2019)
Call H2020-NMP13-2014 (GA: 646286)
This project is funded by the European Union
Al-air Primary cells for Growing Energy Storage Markets
(2015 – 2016)
Call Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO)
SME Horizon Program
Aluminium-air primary battery for powering portable devices in military applications
(2015 – 2017)
Call Ministry of Defense
PROGRAM COINCIDENTE
Exp. 1003215003300
2016
Call INCENsE Accelerator led by ENEL& ENDESA
INCENSe Project Has Received Funding From The European Union Seventh Framework Programme Under Grant Agreement N° 632852
Call Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO)
(2016 – 2019)
Program Retos Colaboración-2015
RTC-2015-4471-3
High efficiency cathodes for Metal-air rechargeable batteries
(2016 – 2019)
Call Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO)
Torres Quevedo Program
PTQ-14-07037
Sulfur-Aluminium Battery with Advanced Polymeric Gel Electrolytes
Batería de Azufre-Aluminio con electrolitos avanzados de Gel polimérico.
(2017 – 2020)
Convocatoria H2020-FETOPEN-1-2016-2017 CALL.
GA Nº 766581
This project is funded by the European Union
Renewable Energy for self-sustAinable island CommuniTies
(2019 – 2022)
Call H2020-LC-SC3-2018-ES-SCC (GA: 824395)
This project is funded by the European Union
Metal-air battery integration for cargo compartment fire suppression
Development of Metal-air batteries for cargo compartment inert rendering in planes.
(2020 – 2022)
Call H2020-CS2-CFP11-2020-01.
GA: 101008179
Through an internal commitment to innovation, we have made progress in different aluminum battery configurations, and in the development of new electrolytes and electrode materials.
Each configuration is developed focusing on the technical needs and costs of the markets to which each of our technologies responds (stationary applications, electric mobility and portable devices), always with a high degree of sustainability.
Metal-air battery configuration is one of the most promising battery technologies to achieve high specific energy values (Wh/kg), electric mobility being its star application. The objective is to increase the autonomy of the batteries, reducing their weight and cost, improving the performance of electric vehicles and making them able to compete effectively with combustion engine vehicles.
Although its of technology readiness level is still precursor, one of its main advantages when it comes to saving weight and cost in the system is that it uses oxygen from the atmosphere as one of the active materials of the electrochemical charge and discharge reaction during its operation.
At Albufera’s laboratories we have reached specific energy values of 2,140 Wh/kg in material test cells at the 10 mAh level with Aluminum-air technology. Scaling up to values around 1,000 Wh/kg in vehicle prototypes is possible by 2025, based on time frames that is in use in the automotive sector and with the projects we have underway in the aeronautical and military sectors.
To do this, we are working on new materials and processes related to gas reaction catalysts, allowing higher processing speeds, which have an impact on adequate operating power for its commercial use in electric vehicles, and an increase in the stability of the oxygen electrode, which allows a sufficient number of charges and discharges for its massive use in mobility.
The best battery structure for portable size applications will be one that uses a form of high viscosity gel or solid electrolytes. The lower ionic conductivity of this type of materials compared to traditional liquid electrolytes means that the most suitable applications do not require very fast charges and discharges (preferably above than 5 hours).
Its use is foreseen for portable electronic equipment due to its high specific energy predicted in the first tests carried out, and the ease of preparing different safe formats for these components.
Although its release to the market is estimated for the year 2030, in Albufera we have already tested some advanced ionogels that have been tested in the aerospace industry combined with aluminum molecules that can transport the ions of our batteries between the anode and the cathode at suitable speeds and obtaining powers greater than 300 W/kg.
In parallel, the insertion and transport of trivalent aluminum cations will allow us to achieve specific energy values above 500 Wh/kg, to make this technology a safe asset for all types of portable electronic devices with high energy consumption or with operational needs of more than 100 hours non-stop.