Posted on 10/24/2024 5:26:02 AM PDT by Red Badger
Columbia Engineers have developed a new, more powerful “fuel” for batteries—an electrolyte that is not only longer-lasting but also cheaper to produce.
Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are essential for the future of our planet, but they face a major hurdle: they don’t consistently generate power when demand is high. To fully harness their potential, we need cost-effective and efficient energy storage solutions to ensure power availability when the wind is still or the sun isn’t shining.
Columbia Engineering material scientists have been focused on developing new kinds of batteries to transform how we store renewable energy. In a new study recently published by Nature Communications, the team used K-Na/S batteries that combine inexpensive, readily-found elements — potassium (K) and sodium (Na), together with sulfur (S) — to create a low-cost, high-energy solution for long-duration energy storage.
“It’s important that we be able to extend the length of time these batteries can operate, and that we can manufacture them easily and cheaply,” said the team’s leader Yuan Yang, associate professor of materials science and engineering in the Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics at Columbia Engineering. “Making renewable energy more reliable will help stabilize our energy grids, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and support a more sustainable energy future for all of us.”
Optical microscope imaging of catholyte at room temperature, showing that no solid is formed at the end of discharge (right figure). The coiled carbon fibers, which are the current collector (substrate) for the catholyte, are visible. The two images show the catholyte’s color change during battery discharge. Credit: Image courtesy of Yuan Yang lab/Columbia Engineering
===========================================================
New electrolyte helps K-Na/S batteries store and release energy more efficiently
There are two major challenges with K-Na/S batteries: they have a low capacity because the formation of inactive solid K2S2 and K2S blocks the diffusion process and their operation requires very high temperatures (>250 oC) that need complex thermal management, thus increasing the cost of the process. Previous studies have struggled with solid precipitates and low capacity and the search has been on for a new technique to improve these types of batteries.
Yang’s group developed a new electrolyte, a solvent of acetamide and ε-caprolactam, to help the battery store and release energy. This electrolyte can dissolve K2S2 and K2S, enhancing the energy density and power density of intermediate-temperature K/S batteries. In addition, it enables the battery to operate at a much lower temperature (around 75°C) than previous designs, while still achieving almost the maximum possible energy storage capacity.
“Our approach achieves nearly theoretical discharge capacities and extended cycle life. This is very exciting in the field of intermediate-temperature K/S batteries,” said the study’s co-first author Zhenghao Yang, a PhD student with Yang.
Pathway to a sustainable energy future
Yang’s group is affiliated with the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center (CEEC), which takes a multiscale approach to discover groundbreaking technology and accelerate commercialization. CEEC joins together faculty and researchers from across the School of Engineering and Applied Science who study electrochemical energy with interests ranging from electrons to devices to systems. Its industry partnerships enable the realization of breakthroughs in electrochemical energy storage and conversion.
Planning to scale up
While the team is currently focused on small, coin-sized batteries, their goal is to eventually scale up this technology to store large amounts of energy. If they are successful, these new batteries could provide a stable and reliable power supply from renewable sources, even during times of low sun or wind. The team is now working on optimizing the electrolyte composition.
Reference:
“Designing electrolytes with high solubility of sulfides/disulfides for high-energy-density and low-cost K-Na/S batteries”
by:
Liying Tian, Zhenghao Yang, Shiyi Yuan, Tye Milazzo, Qian Cheng, Syed Rasool, Wenrui Lei, Wenbo Li, Yucheng Yang, Tianwei Jin, Shengyu Cong, Joseph Francis Wild, Yonghua Du, Tengfei Luo, Donghui Long and Yuan Yang, 5 September 2024, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51905-6
The study was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Interfacial Engineering and Electrochemical Systems at National Science Foundation, and the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
I can't believe Columbia let a white supremecist in.
The obvious problem presented by a battery is that it is not an original power source. It stores power that has to be generated from another power source. Where is the original power coming from? Every time power is transferred from one source to the other some of it is lost. I see a battery as a convenience item not a mainstay power source. It used to be that you had to hand crank your car’s engine to get it started. Now the battery holds energy that is used on demand to crank the engine making the job more convenient.
So much reporting these days is about marketing an "idea" hoping for venture capital before demonstrable tests prove a product worthy of the market. A review of all the bankruptcies in the "renewable" markets since Obama and Chu shows this easily. Massive sums lost (government and private investors alike), while the few pocket the change.
“This electrolyte can dissolve K2S2 and K2S, enhancing the energy density and power density of intermediate-temperature K/S batteries. In addition, it enables the battery to operate at a much lower temperature (around 75°C) than previous designs, while still achieving almost the maximum possible energy storage capacity.”
75 Celcius is 147 Fahrenheit
Does that mean they are not so capable at operating temperatures below 147 Fahrenhiet? If so, they have a long way to go in terms of practical uses.
Research participants...
“Liying Tian, Zhenghao Yang, Shiyi Yuan, Tye Milazzo, Qian Cheng, Syed Rasool, Wenrui Lei, Wenbo Li, Yucheng Yang, Tianwei Jin, Shengyu Cong, Joseph Francis Wild, Yonghua Du, Tengfei Luo, Donghui Long and Yuan Yang,”
Thank God for Chinese imports otherwise we’d be second rate in new advances
It would be nice to know the energy density of such a battery. One source gives the energy density of a solid state sodium-sulfur battery as 1 kwhr/kg, with production starting in 2025. 1kwhr/kg is five times the energy density of the best li-ion batteries today!
An energy density increase of even 3x makes electric vehicles fairly competitive for many uses.
Then we just need cheap and plentiful electricity to make them fully competitive.
The Tesla truck has a current capacity of 125 kwhrs and a range of 320 miles. 3X would give it a range of 960 miles. 5x would give it a range of 1600 miles.
I’ve been reading about fantastic battery discoveries that will change everything since the late sixties. I suspect this is driven by the publish or perish life of university professors.
The firstest to the market gets the mostest.............
YAWN , Oh another breakthrough
Wake me when the stocks of the following lithium companies crash.
Albemarle (ALB)
SQM (NYSE:SQM)
Arcadium Lithium (ALTM)
Pilbara Minerals
Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC)
These “battery breakthroughs” are kinda getting like the “cancer treatment breakthroughs” that never seem to materialize.
I hope they can solve both honestly, but been waiting many many moons for cancer treatments that don’t make folks sick and work almost 100%- on all cancers! But that is a dream me thinks
Just but a new one.
Like everready at Walmart.
Another giveaway is when they tout low cost in headline, then fail to provide a single number in the body of the article.
“Save the Planet” myyass. EV tech may have a place in the military but not in my backyard or garage.
Liberals and insane Gaia worshippers prohibit everyday Americans from using thousands and thousand of acres for recreation because it will harm the ecosystem and animals...then they completely destroy thousands of acres of those same critical habitats for their windmills and solar farms.
Liberals and Gaia worshipers, can't reason with them, can't shoot them.
My batteries are thermonuclear powered by the giant thermonuclear reactor in the sky. Every day it comes up and 220+ days a year at my location is showers us directly in it warm embracing glory. Today right now 23,500 watts are surging down the wires and making me money I’m only using 3500 watts trial for the house while in my man cave rocking 67 degrees in the Mitsubishi. I’ll sell three times what my structures use to ERCOT today at peak rates right now too. The power walls are fully have been since 10 am I night dump them too if the power sales price goes up and charge them back up tonight when its dirt cheap and we have excess wind on the grid priced at 2 cents or less per kWh. So yeah batteries are a power store and can be used to make a ton of money with as well or go off grid at a flip of a switch.
Articles about electric battery breakthrough’s have appeared for the last 120 years. Gas and diesel still are the best by far.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.