With the push for reducing carbon emissions becoming ever more prevalent, new battery design technology is rapidly advancing through many different technologies. Now researchers from Monash University in Australia have developed what they claim to be the “most efficient lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery” to date.
This new battery can extend the life of your phone battery to five days without needing a recharge, and they also say an electric vehicle (EV) would have a range of 621 miles (1000 km) before recharging. These new Li-S batteries are not only cheaper than current lithium-ion batteries, but they are also more environmentally friendly as well.
Matthew Hill an associate professor on the project talks about the performance, lower manufacturing costs, abundant supply of materials, and reduced environmental impact that make this an attractive product moving forward.
This approach not only favors high-performance metrics and long cycle life, but is also simple and extremely low-cost to manufacture, using water-based processes, and can lead to significant reductions in environmentally hazardous waste.
For the new batteries, the team used the same materials that they use to make standard lithium-ion batteries. By reconfiguring the design of the sulfur cathodes, it enables the batteries to handle higher voltage loads without reducing the overall stability, capacity, or performance. This new design creates stronger links between the particles in the Li-S battery. This allows for the cells to adapt to stress and provide a level of stability not yet achieved in other batteries, and gives them four times the efficiency of current batteries.
Recently the team received a new patent (PCT / AU 2019/051239) for the batteries, and the German Fraunhofer Institute has released test copies of the Li-S batteries. They plan on testing these in solar systems and cars in Australia by the end of 2020.
Other major manufacturers of lithium batteries based in China and Europe have also expressed interest in up-scaling production.
Professor Mainak Majumder talks about how these batteries could transform the future of electronics and how they become manufactured in the future:
Successful fabrication and implementation of Li-S batteries in cars and grids will capture a more significant part of the estimated $213bn value chain of Australian lithium and will revolutionize the Australian vehicle market and provide all Australians with a cleaner and more reliable energy market. Our research team has received more than $2.5m in funding from government and international industry partners to trial this battery technology in cars and grids from this year, which we’re most excited about.
It’s been reported that in November of 2019 they were able to drive 200-300 miles on just a 10-minute charge.
Moving forward they plan to produce the lithium-sulfur battery in mass production for cell phones, tablets, laptops, and EVs. The Australian team may have just invented the next battery of the future.
