New Lithium Battery Can Store And Deliver More Than Three Times Power Of Conventional Lithium Batter

[steven johnson]

Better hybrid car and alternative energy (wind, solar) storage? Time will tell.

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2009) — Scientists at the University Of Waterloo has laid the groundwork for a lithium battery that can store and deliver more than three times the power of conventional lithium ion batteries.

The research team of professor Linda Nazar, graduate student David Xiulei Ji and postdoctoral fellow Kyu Tae Lee are one of the first to demonstrate robust electrochemical performance for a lithium-sulphur battery. The finding is reported in the online issue of Nature Materials.

The prospect of lithium-sulphur batteries has tantalized chemists for two decades, and not just because successfully combining the two chemistries delivers much higher energy densities. Sulphur is cheaper than many other materials currently used in lithium batteries. It has always showed great promise as the ideal partner for a safe, low cost, long lasting rechargeable battery, exactly the kind of battery needed for energy storage and transportation in a low carbon emission energy economy.

"The difficult challenge was always the cathode, the part of the battery that stores and releases electrons in the charge and recharge cycles," said Dr. Nazar. "To enable a reversible electrochemical reaction at high current rates, the electrically-active sulphur needs to remain in the most intimate contact with a conductor, such as carbon."


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090518111731.htm

[tridim]

1. Great news! If it's light enough. nt

[kristopher]

2. Mmmm

When they say "can store 3X the electricity" they are most often judging that by weight.

[kristopher]

3. Silicon nanowire technology claiming better

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v3/n1/full/nnano.2007.411.html

Nature Nanotechnology 3, 31 - 35 (2008)
Published online: 16 December 2007 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.411

Subject Category: Electronic properties and devices
High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires

Candace K. Chan1, Hailin Peng2, Gao Liu3, Kevin McIlwrath4, Xiao Feng Zhang4, Robert A. Huggins2 & Yi Cui2
Abstract

There is great interest in developing rechargeable lithium batteries with higher energy capacity and longer cycle life for applications in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and implantable medical devices1. Silicon is an attractive anode material for lithium batteries because it has a low discharge potential and the highest known theoretical charge capacity (4,200 mAh g-1; ref. 2). Although this is more than ten times higher than existing graphite anodes and much larger than various nitride and oxide materials3, 4, silicon anodes have limited applications5 because silicon's volume changes by 400% upon insertion and extraction of lithium which results in pulverization and capacity fading2. Here, we show that silicon nanowire battery electrodes circumvent these issues as they can accommodate large strain without pulverization, provide good electronic contact and conduction, and display short lithium insertion distances. We achieved the theoretical charge capacity for silicon anodes and maintained a discharge capacity close to 75% of this maximum, with little fading during cycling.

A friend closely involved in EV research tells me this is very promising - they are working on manufacturing techniques now. It is expected to deliver about 800-1000 miles per charge in a 600 lb battery pack.

[madokie]

6. That would be cool if it gets even close to what they're saying

a 3 or 4 hundred mile range would cover us 99.9% of the time

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. More

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=196193&mesg_id=196193

[RC]

5. This is even better yet! A Lithium Oxygen Battery

Air fuelled' battery tech invented in Scotland

Oxygen-sucking kit won't be popular in submarines

Boffins based in Scotland believe they're on the track of rechargeable batteries which could broach a barrel of whup-ass on any now in service - and even more advanced types in development. The new super batteries gain their advantage by absorbing atmospheric oxygen as they discharge, and giving it up again as they charge.

News of the developments comes from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, one of Blighty's main tech funding bodies. The EPSRC are chuffed as ninepence with the so-called STAIR battery - short for St Andrews Air - under development at the Scottish uni by Professor Peter Bruce and his team.

"Our target is to get a five to ten fold increase in storage capacity, which is beyond the horizon of current lithium batteries," says Bruce. "The key is to use oxygen in the air as a re-agent, rather than carry the necessary chemicals around inside the battery."


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/19/lithium_oxygen_stair_battery/