Critical Flaw In Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Has Been Solved

Wall Street Pit ^ | March 26, 2017

[2ndDivisionVet]

Anyone who has a portable device — including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches and fitness trackers — is obviously familiar with a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery because most (if not all) of these devices are powered by this kind of battery. We’ve been okay with the rechargeable for a while, but as lithium-ion batteries are now close to reaching their maximum storage capacity (in other words, battery life can’t be extended any more), and with the horror stories about phone batteries that explode or burn, the search is on for an alternative battery that can meet our demands better and safer.

So far, the best bet is lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. These batteries don’t just have an energy capacity that’s much higher than Li-ions, they’re quite light and are cheap to make too (because sulfur is abundant and inexpensive).

On the downside, however, Li-S batteries suffer from what’s referred to as ‘poor cycling stability’. This means that after a few charge and discharge cycles, its electrodes break down, reducing the cell’s capacity and making the battery unstable. To make Li-S batteries the new king of batteries, this problem will have to be addressed first....

[dp0622]

including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches and fitness trackers — is obviously familiar with a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery...

Have 4 out of 5 listed and had no idea they on lithium-ion batteries

And probably will forget by Tuesday.

Me at Staples: “Excuse me sir. Where are your AAA batteries” :)

[Stentor]

Didn’t and won’t read the article but is graphene involved? It seems to be the current answer to everything. Splitting nails? Graphene.

[Pentagon Leatherneck]

Given the deserved popularity of Li-Ion batteries, and their deserved role in the hand tool industry, the flaws of these sulfur batteries seems pretty far off

TC

[entropy12]

99% of Lion batteries do not explode. So it behooves to determine if there is a common thread for those which do crash and burn. Overload? Too much charging? Flaw in manufacturing process? That would be better than going on a wild goose chase for other materials.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Yup, article cites graphene as part of the fix.

[Moonman62]

If I only had a dollar for each battery and graphene breakthrough I’ve read about over the years that never amounted to anything.

[Stentor]

Yup, article cites graphene as part of the fix.

Big graphene, at it again. I like to know the story and big money behind this instance of vaporanium. Always see graphene stories when silver starts an up move.

[HandyDandy]

Graphene is a zero-gap semiconductor, because its conduction and valence bands meet at the Dirac points. The Dirac points are six locations in momentum space, on the edge of the Brillouin zone, divided into two non-equivalent sets of three points. The two sets are labeled K and K'. The sets give graphene a valley degeneracy of gv = 2. By contrast, for traditional semiconductors the primary point of interest is generally Γ, where momentum is zero. Four electronic properties separate it from other condensed matter systems.

[Secret Agent Man]

I bet they put it in a graphene matrix to stabilize it.

[Bellflower]

Handy is there anyway you can put that into lay mans terms, even just a little.

By the way, do you have an opinion if it’s time to invest yet? If so, in raw material?

[ully2]

only downside is they stink.

[HandyDandy]

".......is there anyway you can put that into lay mans terms, even just a little."

Many FReepers have asked me that question. My answer is, "nope". I don't have a clue to even what field of study that language comes from. After running into so many articles on FR that mention graphene I decided to look it up and I found that definition (and copied it, for future pasting). Einstein said, "If you can't explain something in simple terms, then you don't really understand it". That is certainly the case here.

[Stentor]

Are you sure? ;>

[JohnBovenmyer]

Your quote comes from the 'electronic properties' section of the Wiki on graphene and therein includes a single footnote from International Scholarly Research Network's Condensed Matter Physics, from which I draw the very little idea that its field has something to do with electronics or condensed matter physics. The footnoted article included a similar quote and even a diagram, which left my ignorance as Einsteinian as yours.

[SueRae]

Thanks for that. Ill have to run that by some of my engineering friends when I see them. Material science is fascinating..but it does take a real skill to explain it. I’ll ask one of them for the crayon version.. ;) :-)

[HandyDandy]

Thanks. Your link sent me to this thread. An interesting journey. And a fine example of the condensed version of the conduction of condensed matter.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Sorry, my post was one quantum short of a link's address. They're in this one.