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posted by hubie on Friday March 29 2024, @03:00AM   Printer-friendly

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are a promising alternative to lithium–ion batteries (LiBs), the most common rechargeable battery technology. As sulfur is abundant on Earth, these batteries could be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than LiBs, while also potentially exhibiting higher energy densities.

Despite these advantages, the deployment of Li–S batteries has so far been limited, as many of these batteries also have a low cycle life and a high self-discharge rate. In addition, the predicted high energy density of Li–S batteries often becomes far lower when in real applications, due to the high rates at which they charge and discharge.

A chemical reaction that plays a central role in ensuring the high capacity of Li–S batteries is the so-called sulfur reduction reaction (SRR). This reaction has been widely studied, yet its kinetic tendencies at high current rates remain poorly understood.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide, Tianjin University and Australian Synchrotron recently carried out a study aimed at delineating the kinetic trend of SRR, to inform the future development of high-power Li–S batteries. Their paper, published in Nature Nanotechnology, also introduces a nanocomposite carbon electrocatalyst that was found to boost the performance of Li–S batteries, attaining a discharge capacity retention of approximately 75%.

[...] Building on their observations, the researchers already introduced one electrocatalyst that was found to enhance the capacity retention and cyclic stability of an Li–S battery. In the future, their work could inspire the design of other promising catalysts, potentially contributing to the development of new high-power Li–S battery technologies.

More information: Huan Li et al, Developing high-power Li||S batteries via transition metal/carbon nanocomposite electrocatalyst engineering, Nature Nanotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-024-01614-4


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by anotherblackhat on Friday March 29 2024, @03:25PM

    by anotherblackhat (4722) on Friday March 29 2024, @03:25PM (#1350867)

    IMO, the company to watch for Li-S batteries is Lyten.
    Lyten is claiming they'll be making Li-S batteries at scale this year — https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lyten-achieves-manufacturing-milestone-now-130000485.html [yahoo.com]

    I mean, it's great that researchers are looking into other catalysts, but Lyten is buzz word compatible with their 3D Graphene™ technology.

  • (Score: 2) by DadaDoofy on Friday March 29 2024, @07:22PM (2 children)

    by DadaDoofy (23827) on Friday March 29 2024, @07:22PM (#1350899)

    "high rates at which they charge and discharge."

    It would be interesting to see if they would work for electric drag racing.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2024, @01:29AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2024, @01:29AM (#1350958)
    • (Score: 2) by anotherblackhat on Saturday March 30 2024, @04:26PM

      by anotherblackhat (4722) on Saturday March 30 2024, @04:26PM (#1351020)

      Drag racing is basically the 400m dash for cars.
      Discharge rate has never been the problem — if it was, you could go the distance with 4 D batteries and a hundred super capacitors.

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Friday March 29 2024, @08:27PM

    by VLM (445) on Friday March 29 2024, @08:27PM (#1350907)

    more environmentally friendly

    Greenwashing filler. Unclear how internationally shipping sulfur refined from crude oil or coal burning is "green".

    In 2024 an instant indication something is a scam, is a claim that its "green".

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