Scientists from the US and China have identified a polymer that makes lithium sulfide batteries last longer.
Amongst batteries in-use today, lithium ion ones produce more energy per unit mass than most others. However, electric vehicles demand even higher energy batteries with longer charge intervals.
Lithium sulfide batteries can hold much more energy than present-day lithium ion batteries but are limited by their short battery life. This is due to an irregular dispersion of lithium in their electrode slurry, as well as soluble polysulfides being lost when they dissolve in the electrolyte.
Initial numerical modelling followed by lab tests lead Yi Cui at Stanford University and his co-workers to discover that polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) can be used to hold a battery’s lithium sulfide and polysulfides during cycling. The PVP allows lithium ions…
Read the full article in Chemistry World»
Read the original journal article in Chemical Science:
Stable cycling of lithium sulfide cathodes through strong affinity with a bifunctional binder
Zhi Wei Seh, Qianfan Zhang, Weiyang Li, Guangyuan Zheng, Hongbin Yao and Yi Cui
Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 3673-3677
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC51476E, Edge Article
