Secondary Batteries | Magnesium Batteries (Secondary and Primary)

Magnesium is highly attractive as an anode material in high-energy-density batteries due to its property of being an active material with low redox potential (-2.36 V vs standard hydrogen electrode (SHE)), very low specific weight (1.74 g cm ^-3), and hence with a high specific capacity (2.23 Ah gr ^-1). It is abundant and cheap, and many of its compounds can be regarded as being green and safe and can be handled under ambient air. The high reactivity of this metal and the fact that it is always covered by passivating surface films make the application of magnesium as negative electrodes in batteries a great challenge. Nevertheless, several types of practical primary magnesium batteries based on aqueous electrolyte solutions have been developed and are described in this article. In recent years there have been increasing efforts to develop rechargeable magnesium batteries, based on nonaqueous electrolyte solution or gels and cathodes, which are magnesium ion insertion materials or redox compounds.