Lithium-sulphur batteries have all it takes to replace lithium-ion batteries as the technology of choice for energy storage in electric vehicles. They are much more powerful and cost-effective than all known lithium-ion variants.
So far however, the lithium-sulphur batters suffers from a significant drawback: Its operating lifetime falls short of what is needed for serial vehicles. This however could change now: Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Materials and Radiation Technology (IWS) in Dresden have developed a new battery design that promises to multiply the number of charging cycles by a factor of seven.
“So far, this battery type hardly exceeded 200 charging cycles”, explains Holger Althues, head of the department for Chemical Surface Technology at Fraunhofer IWS. “Through a specific combination of anode and cathode material we could increase the lifetime of lithium-sulphur button cells to 1400 cycles”. Read more ..
WATER FOR CHARGING CELL PHONES?
The world’s first water-activated charging device developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm claims to be able to use ordinary water to extend life for devices of up to 3 W.
Based on micro fuel cell technology, the MyFC PowerTrekk device now means that a power source for your mobile phone can now be as close as the nearest tap or stream. Anders Lundblad, KTH researcher and founder of MyFC, said that the device can be powered by fresh or seawater. The water need not be completely clean.
“Our invention has great potential to accelerate social development in emerging markets,” Lundblad says. “There are large areas that lack electricity, while mobile phones fulfil more and more vital functions, such as access to weather information or electronic payment.”
A USB connector attaches the compact PowerTrekk charger to the device. When plain water is poured onto a small disposable metal disc inside the unit, hydrogen gas is released and combines with oxygen to convert chemical energy into electrical energy. The resulting charge is enough to power an iPhone to between 25 and 100 per cent of its battery capacity.