What chemical scientists just won’t think of! It turns out that ordinary sulfur can form the basis of a new generation of batteries. Finally, electric cars will enter the reality of cities. In short: as part of a South Korean-American science project, scientists from Arizona University are exploring a new chemical process that creates lightweight plastic based on sulfur that can be used in electric vehicle batteries. Maybe even egg cars will soon get a sulfur battery?
Scientists are looking for new ways to extract precious energy and bring it to electrical appliances. Even from sports records, humanity is learning to extract electricity.
The news about the creation of new material for the production of batteries was shared with the press by the head of the research group, associate professor Jeffrey Pyun. If the efforts of chemists are successful, then the new generation of batteries will be lithium-sulfur (Li-S). These batteries will be lighter, cheaper and more energy-efficient than those used in electric vehicles today. In the case of introducing the developed technology, it can find its application not only in electric vehicles, but also in cars with combined fuel.
As you know, batteries are generally the weakest link in modern technology. This is especially true for electric vehicles. Modern batteries cannot store enough energy. They are too expensive and too heavy. All this significantly slows down the spread of electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, electricity is playing an increasingly large role in our civilization. Televisions work on electricity, smartphones and tablets feed on it, scientists believe that even flowers send electric signals to bees. And cars need a battery of inexpensive and not too heavy material. Maybe it will be sulfur, which is abundant on our planet?
In industrial processes in which sulfur is used, excesses of this substance often remain. They don’t know where to put it. So, there are no problems with the material for new power sources. Currently, researchers have applied for an international patent for the chemical process they have discovered and for materials for the production of polymer electrodes that will be used in lithium-sulfur batteries.
Using sulfur is not so easy. It is not easy to force to form stable long molecular chains (also known as polymers). But associate professor Pyun and his colleagues compiled a list of two dozen chemicals. Scientists consistently test them and see which ones make sulfur better "polymerize".
But clap your hands and be delighted early. Yes, the first experiment is successful, but ahead is the painstaking work to “bring to mind” the new technology. Scientists have to try other chemicals from their list.
Now the new chemical process is simply called "reverse vulcanization", since it mainly requires sulfur and a small amount of additive. As is widely known, vulcanization is a process that makes rubber more durable. In ordinary vulcanization, sulfur is used in small quantities as an additive to rubber.
According to Associate Professor Pyun, a new type of plastic is more suitable for batteries than regular sulfur. Batteries whose cathodes are made of ordinary sulfur can withstand only a very limited number of recharge cycles and then become unusable.
The new plastic has better properties than pure sulfur, which is currently used in lithium-sulfur batteries. At least, this is stated in the report compiled by the researchers. The new material provides a capacity of 823 milliampere-hours per gram, maintained for hundreds of recharge cycles.
Already now, at the research stage, a number of companies have shown interest in the new plastic and the batteries that can be made from it. The next step of the research team will be to compare the properties of the new plastic and those plastic materials that are currently used in the production of batteries.
Based on materials from esciencenews.com
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