updated 03:40 pm EDT, Wed June 10, 2009
Lithium Sulfur Batteries
A new discovery by the University of Waterloo could extend the battery life of cellphones, notebooks and other devices by as much as three times. Lithium-sulfur follows lithium-ion's approach of storing energy in one electrode and releasing it through another but pairs the lithium with a set of nanoscale-level, porous carbon rods surrounded by sulfur to make contact between the rods. The choices of material greatly improve the lithium's energy capacity and would let it hold 84 percent of the theoretical capacity of sulfur, or between three to five more than a lithium-ion battery.
By combining lithium with the two materials, the researchers also found that batteries could be much lighter even as they store more power. A typical lithium-ion cell has 500 watt-hours per kilogram (227 per pound), but lithium-sulfur could generate 1,200 watt-hours in the same mass (545 per pound).
The technology is still in mid-development and has a number of obstacles before it can be refined into a finished product, such as the rate at which capacity decreases as well protecting against sparks and the question of a final price. None of those at the Canadian university would predict when lithium-sulfur could reach stores. [via GizMag]