Experts around the world are looking for new chemical compositions of batteries that would improve the consumer qualities of traction batteries for electric vehicles according to several criteria at once. Chinese scientists have managed to improve the composition of lithium-sulfur batteries and increase their service life without compromising other properties.
Image source: Reuters
As explained Nikkei Asian ReviewIn lithium-sulfur batteries, the cathodes are made of sulfur, which reduces production costs and doubles the battery capacity compared to lithium-ion counterparts. At the same time, the existing prototype sulfur battery lines suffered from a short service life because they only survived a limited number of charge and discharge cycles. Liquid and solid electrolyte versions equally struggled to overcome thousands of such cycles.
According to the main source, representatives of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have managed to develop a lithium-sulfur battery that retains up to 70% of its original capacity after 1400 charge and discharge cycles. This discovery brings lithium-sulfur batteries closer to commercial viability. The innovation proposed by Chinese researchers is the combination of carbon nanotubes with sulfur, as such a structure promotes better movement of ions and electrons within it, since pure sulfur is a poor conductor of electricity. This discovery is expected to bring the development of practical, high-efficiency lithium-sulfur batteries with solid electrolytes closer.
Add Comment