Development of the borohydride-air battery

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The energy and power requirements of the myriad of electronic devices our modern society is accustomed to impose stringent performance and cost demands on the battery systems powering these devices. Lithium-ion batteries dominate large segments of the battery market. However, there are applications where the cost and performance characteristics are less advantageous and other battery systems are preferred. For hearing aid devices, the zinc-air battery dominates presently but the operating time is fairly short due to low gravimetric specific energy. The present proposal focuses on the development of a borohydride-air battery in a coin-cell configuration. This battery could offer up to seven times higher gravimetric specific energy, it is mercury-free (unlike some zinc-air batteries), light-weight and the products of the electrochemical reactions are harmless. The proposed borohydride-air coin-cell battery technology is a world-wide first and its practical development represents the next step for the applicant's research team based on six years of fundamental research generously supported by NSERC Discovery grants. The objective of the present proposal is to evaluate the market potential, business opportunities and challenges for the borohydride-air battery.