(382v) Advancing Carbon-Negative Energy Storage: Development of a Liquid Gallium–CO? Battery

Metal–CO₂ batteries (MCBs) offer exciting potential for both energy storage and carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction, but they currently face major challenges such as slow reaction rates and electrode deactivation caused by the buildup of solid discharge products. Even with advanced catalysts and nanomaterials, these issues remain significant barriers to practical application.

To address these problems, we developed a first-of-its-kind liquid Gallium–CO₂ battery (LGaCB) that operates at high temperatures using a molten carbonate electrolyte and a gallium-based anode. Inspired by molten carbonate fuel cells and recent advances in CO₂ reduction in liquid metals, the LGaCB design enables faster reaction kinetics and actively prevents electrode blockage by dissolving solid products directly into the liquid anode.

Even with a simple, open-atmosphere setup, the battery demonstrated strong performance:

• Power density of 13 mW/cm² during cycling
• Peak power density of 75 mW/cm² in polarization tests
  These values significantly outperform traditional low-temperature MCBs by a factor of 5–10.

Importantly, the system is inherently carbon-negative, as the carbon formed during discharge is not re-oxidized during charging. We confirmed the formation and stability of solid products using XRD, SEM-EDS, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS.

To further advance the technology, we also designed and built a custom electrochemical cell for gas analysis and mechanistic studies under varying feed conditions.

Through this work, I gained valuable experience in electrochemical system design, materials characterization, high-temperature testing, and gas analysis—skills that are highly relevant for industry-focused energy storage, fuel cells, catalysis and CO₂ utilization applications.

Research Interests: Sustainable energy, sustainable energy storage, CO2-utilization, fuel cells, green hydrogen, recycling, bio-plastics