A bunch of researchers from the Monash Energy Institute have managed to create lighter, longer-lasting, and more sustainable batteries by simply adding sugar to the mix. In fact, these newly created batteries are quite impressive when compared to the widely used lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicles, submarines, and airplanes, as well as for other aviation needs.
Alongside CSIRO manufacturing group, the Monash team announced that by utilizing a glucose-based additive to the positive electrode, the result was to ‘stabilize the lithium-sulfur battery technology’. Moreover, this technology has been widely proclaimed as the future or next generation of batteries.
As for the group’s lead author, Professor Mainak Majumder of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, who also happens to be the Associate Director of the Monash Energy Institute, “In less than a decade, this technology could lead to vehicles including electric buses and trucks that can travel from Melbourne to Sydney without recharging. It could also enable innovation in delivery and agricultural drones where light weight is paramount.”
Although this in theory at the moment, the idea is that lithium-sulfur batteries have the capability to keep two to five times more energy than other lithium-ion batteries of the exact same weight. The issue with this type of technology is that when these types of batteries are in use, their electrode deteriorate incredibly fast, while the batteries broke down quickly as well.
According to the research team, there are two reasons why this occurs. They explained that the positive sulfur electrode deteriorated due to significant expansion and contraction that weakened it, which made it elusive to lithium. Meanwhile, the second reason was that the negative lithium electrode became corrupted by the sulfur compounds.
Just last year, the Monash group showed how they managed to open the structure of the sulfur electrode in order to make room for increase so it could become more reachable to lithium.
After which, they added sugar into the ‘web-like architecture of the electrode they have stabilized the sulfur, which then prevents it from moving or covering the lithium electrode.
From the test-cell prototypes made by the research team, they reported at least 1000 cycles of a charge-discharge life, while managing to still have a much larger capacity in comparison to its lithium-ion battery equivalent.
First author of the study published in Nature Communications, and PhD student Yingyi Huang, “So each charge lasts longer, extending the battery’s life. And manufacturing the batteries doesn’t require exotic, toxic, and expensive materials.”
According to Yingyi and her colleagues, they happened to be find inspiration from a 1988 geochemistry report that talked about the way sugar-based substances tend to combat ‘degradations in geological sediments by forming strong bonds with sulfides.’
Meanwhile, second author of the paper and Monash researcher, Dr. Mahdokt Shaibani, shared, “While many of the challenges on the cathode side of the battery has been solved by our team, there is stil need for further innovation into the protection of the lithium metal anode to enable large-scale uptake of this promising technology – innovations that may be right around the corner.”
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