Re: Aluminum Battery?

From: Uncle Al (UncleAl0_at_hate.spam.net)
Date: 11/03/04 

Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 15:44:25 -0800

sanman wrote:
>
> Could someone please give their informed feedback on whether this
> outfit is onto something real, or whether it's just a bunch of fake
> hype?
>
> http://www.europositron.net/
>
> They claim to have developed some nano-scale method to treat aluminum
> to avoid oxidation, so that it can be used to make batteries with 20
> times the energy density of Lithium-Ion.
>
> Is this for real, or is this just yet another scam?
>
> I never knew Aluminum was even a candidate for battery material. I
> think I remember reading about some Vanadium compound once -- for
> something called a flow cell -- but I never heard anything about
> Aluminum.
>
> The site doesn't give any direct information on the electrochemistry
> of this aluminum battery.
>
> Here's some site I got thru google, that briefly talks about Aluminum
> electrochemistry:
>
> http://www.ectechnic.co.uk/alumair.html
>
> So, is it safe to say that it's not the energy density of Aluminum as
> a battery material that's in doubt, but it's the side-reactions with
> hydrogen that are entirely to blame for its lack of wider appeal?
>
> How would one stop the hydrogen corrosion? Any ideas?

"The new, patented technology based on nanoscale electrochemistry will
allow production of rechargeable aluminium batteries providing up to
20 times more capacity than current batteries."

   1) Bull***, up to the "up to"

   2) If "up to means "less than" and "not rechargeable," no problem.

My Cable ISP gives me "up to" '100 times the speed of a 56K modem.'
They must have soem awsfully slow 56K modems. 

-- 
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
 (Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/qz.pdf