HYDERABAD: A lithium carbon dioxide (CO2) battery developed by an Indian IIT-H researcher, could well power India’s space projects and the ambitious Mars mission in 2024.
Project on metals CO2 battery, developed by Chandra Sekhar Sharma, associate professor of the department of chemical engineering and creative & advanced research, has already fetched Rs 25 lakh Swarnajayanti fellowship 2019-2020 from department of science and technology in addition to Rs 1.93 crore research grant from Science and Engineering Research Board for the next five years. “Over next five years, we will explore more about this concept and carry out scientific experiments. A real battery prototype will be developed as an outcome by engaging with organizations such as ISRO and DRDO in early phases for Indian space mission,” Sharma told TOI. “We will use sodium and potassium metals and make the battery more energy efficient,” said Sharma. Once ready, the battery will reduce the weight of satellites, thereby reducing cost of planetary missions. Using CO2 as an energy carrier, the battery is touted to help boost space missions.
Objective of research was to develop a prototype of a metal CO2 battery to explore feasibility of this technology in Mars mission. “Outcome of this project will not only utilize CO2 atmosphere on Mars to develop more energy storage systems for planetary missions but facilitate in mitigating global challenge of climate change,” said Sharma. This research has been published in an international journal, Materials Letters, as a featured letter and has been submitted for a patent.