China's Major Breakthrough in High-Energy-Density Primary Batteries: 1285Wh/L, Discharge Rate Increased a Hundredfold

The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has announced its latest battery R&D achievement: Chen Zhongwei's team has produced a 25 ampere-hour-class soft-pack primary lithium metal battery, with test data across all metrics setting new domestic benchmarks in its category, directly making up for the shortcomings of traditional specialty batteries that have ample energy storage but weak output. The battery has passed the full battery of tests at the Safety Laboratory of the China Electronics Standardization Institute. In low-rate operation, its energy density exceeds 750Wh/kg and 1285Wh/L, placing it at the top tier among primary batteries. The most critical upgrade is discharge capability, with the discharge rate improved by 100 times. Traditional lithium primary batteries can retain their charge for over a decade, but can only discharge slowly at low currents. In scenarios such as a drone braking sharply to hover, a spacecraft adjusting its attitude, or a field exploration robot overcoming obstacles, when a short burst of high power is needed, old batteries suffer a voltage plunge, power delivery falls short, and the equipment fails outright. The new battery perfectly resolves this contradiction: at a 1C standard discharge rate, it maintains an energy density of 656Wh/kg and 1130Wh/L, while supporting short-duration 10C ultra-high-current discharge. It can also deliver sustained output at 4C over extended periods, achieving a room-temperature power density of 4487W/kg. Even in extreme cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius, the battery can still deliver 447Wh/kg of energy. Its self-discharge rate is less than 1% even after long-term storage, so long-term field deployment requires no frequent battery replacement. Its application scenarios cover a wide range of high-end specialized equipment, including aerospace satellites, military portable devices, deep-sea exploration instruments, unattended earthquake monitors in mountainous areas, and industrial remote sensors. Previously, such equipment required two power supply components — a battery plus a supercapacitor. Now, this single battery alone can provide both long-duration energy storage and instantaneous high power, allowing the overall size and weight of the equipment to be significantly reduced. The entire battery was independently developed by a domestic team. The soft-pack structure allows the external dimensions to be adjusted according to equipment requirements, fitting the installation spaces of different systems. This breakthrough represents China's high-power primary battery technology entering the international first tier, achieving independent and controllable core power supply components.