Science accidentally finds a 'miracle battery' that can change the world

A recent discovery could revolutionize batteries and change the way we power the world.

For decades, scientists have been trying to find the best technology to power modern life, while still ensuring the balance from ecology, applicability, and environmental protection. . The answer may already be right in front of our eyes: Sulfur.

Sulfur can solve the battery problem, which has baffled scientists for decades.

However, due to technological limitations, since the early 90s, the battery technology of choice has been lithium-ion. Since then, lithium-ion has powered everything from phones, laptops, electric cars, to backup grid facilities and even space satellites. However, this material has some rather serious downsides.

Outdated lithium-ion batteries, but still the only option

Talking about the disadvantages of lithium-ion, first of all, cobalt - the material that makes up the battery, is a substance that is harmful to our living environment, contributes to the destruction of the large ecosystem, or even digs into the environment. release harmful chemicals.

Next, lithium-ion also has a problem with battery life, when it quickly loses its inherent battery capacity if charged many times (also known as "battery bottles"). This makes us spend more money to replace the battery, if not to turn the device into useless.

Lithium-ion batteries still have many disadvantages.

Lithium-ion batteries also have the disadvantage of being quite heavy, large and bulky. This limits the range of electric cars because the batteries are very heavy, and even unfeasible for some applications, like commercial electric aircraft or ships.

Even lithium-ion batteries are prone to problems that lead to fire and explosion, because just one damaged cell can cause the battery to catch fire and explode violently.

This is why a team of scientists in Drexel, Germany, is working on an entirely new type of battery, called a lithium-sulfur (or sulfur battery).

On the surface, using sulfur on a lithium-sulfur battery would inherently solve all the problems of lithium-ion. They use less eco-toxic materials, are cheaper to manufacture, but guarantee up to 3 times more energy density and are less likely to catch fire.

However, why hasn't lithium-sulfur been chosen to replace lithium-ion so far? That's because they have a big problem: charge cycles.

While lithium-ion batteries can last for about 2000 charge cycles, lithium-sulfur is typically limited to only about half. So, after about 1 or 2 years of proper use, the lithium-sulfur battery will essentially "die".

Sulfur batteries have cheaper manufacturing costs, 3 times higher energy density

To get around this, the team tried new approaches to lithium-sulfur, by varying the compounds in the battery's cathode.

Their goal is to slow down the chemical reaction that produces polysulfide when charging and storing electricity. This reaction effectively removes sulfur from the electrode, the explanation says, allowing the batteries to become very energy-rich and last longer.

New research on sulfur batteries could change the game in the energy industry.

This chemical reaction was previously known as "monoclinic gamma-phase sulfur", but has only ever been observed in the laboratory at high temperatures - up to 95 degrees Celsius.

However, in actual testing under normal conditions, this reaction has achieved unexpected results, when completely stopping the reaction that produces polysulfide. It is so efficient that scientists have tested the battery over 4,000 cycles without losing capacity. This means it lasts at least twice as long as lithium-ion.

However, like many other accidental discoveries, scientists have yet to figure out what really happened. Why does this chemical phase of sulfur appear at room temperature, and how can it be recreated?

Therefore, more research is still needed to answer these questions, as well as to develop this idea into a stable battery.

If this technology is successfully applied, it will transform the dream of a battery with light weight, high capacity, long life, and low cost, giving fully electric vehicles an advantage over other batteries. conventional fossil fuel vehicles.

Furthermore, Lithium and sulfur are common elements on Earth. Therefore, using them in electric batteries will significantly reduce the environmental impact of the mining process as well as ensure a more resilient supply chain.