The authors of the review are M. Rosa Palacín and Alexandre Ponrouch, from the ICMAB, M. Elena Arroyo-de Dompablo, from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and Patrik Johansson, from the University of Technology, Gothenburg (Sweden). 

The review is in the framework of the European H2020-FETOPEN CARBAT project and the ERC Strating Grant CAMBAT project from Ponrouch. 

This review about the current and future of rechargeable calcium batteries is published in Open Access in the special issue "Beyond Li ion batteries" of Chemical Reviews (ACS). It counts with more than 230 citations and includes the updated state-of-the-art in this field. 

"We started working in this revew last year, and now it is finally available online, and it is Open Access! We hope it can be useful for everyone working in the field!" says M. Rosa Palacín

About the review

The review flows from past attempts to develop a (rechargeable) battery technology based on calcium (Ca) via crucial breakthroughs to arrive at a comprehensive discussion of the current challenges at hand.

Electrodes and electrolytes

The realization of a rechargeable Ca battery technology primarily requires identification and development of suitable electrodes and electrolytes, which is why we here cover the progress starting from the fundamental electrode/electrolyte requirements, concepts, materials, and compositions employed and finally a critical analysis of the state-of-the-art, allowing us to conclude with the particular roadblocks still existing.

Anodes and cathodes

As for crucial breakthroughs, reversible plating and stripping of calcium at the metal-anode interface was achieved only recently and for very specific electrolyte formulations. Therefore, while much of the current research aims at finding suitable cathodes to achieve proof-of-concept for a full Ca battery, the spectrum of electrolytes researched is also expanded.

Compatibility of cell components

Compatibility of cell components is essential, and to ensure this, proper characterization is needed, which requires design of a multitude of reliable experimental setups and sometimes methodology development beyond that of other next generation battery technologies.

Final recommendations

Finally, we conclude with recommendations for future strategies to make best use of the current advances in materials science combined with computational design, electrochemistry, and battery engineering, all to propel the Ca battery technology to reality and ultimately reach its full potential for energy storage.

About Chemical Reviews

Chemical Reviews is peer-reviewed scientific journal published twice per month by the American Chemical Society. It publishes review articles on all aspects of chemistry. It was established in 1924 by William Albert Noyes (University of Illinois). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2018 impact factor of 54.301.

Reference:

Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects of Calcium Batteries
M. Elena Arroyo-de Dompablo, Alexandre Ponrouch, Patrik Johansson, M. Rosa Palacín
Chem. Rev. 2020, 120, 14, 6331–6357
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00339