Panasonic develops energy storage battery

Panasonic is expanding the development of its current zinc-air battery technology for hearing-enhancing devices. The new device will be designed for renewable energy storage and will be safer than lithium-ion batteries with high energy density.

Japanese electronics maker Panasonic said this week that it has started developing zinc-air flow batteries for storage in large-scale renewable energy projects. Based on zinc-air secondary battery technology developed over the years, Panasonic's goal is to build a low-cost, high-capacity energy storage technology with a new "flow" design, Panasonic said in the statement.

Zinc-air batteries are especially suitable for hearing aids, providing a constant level of power to ensure the hearing aid works properly at all times. The battery has a high energy density, twice the energy of a lithium-ion battery for the same size.

Panasonic says the new device will be safer than lithium-ion batteries because the electrolyte in which the zinc is soaked is a water-based liquid that is extremely unlikely to ignite.

It is understood that in batteries with a "flow" design, the battery and the water tank are independent of each other, so it is possible to easily increase the capacity by increasing the size of the water tank. During the charging process, the zinc oxide becomes zinc through a chemical reaction to store electricity, and during the discharge phase, when the zinc returns to the zinc oxide under the action of the oxygen contained in the air, the stored electrons are released, so the electricity can be extracted .