Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Unveiled 270
mobilemag writes "Sion Power is showing off its new Lithium-Sulfur battery design this week at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC). SION believes that its new Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries are the answer to the power hungry devices on the market today."
Re:Bloody Yanks... (Score:5, Informative)
The Manufacturer has more information (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Fix a different problem... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Sulfur? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Sulfur? (Score:2, Informative)
Only 300 recharges? (Score:2, Informative)
Presumably, the price of the new battery will be higher than existing batteries, and it sounds like it could be a big annoyance factor to be worse than existing batteries. Would anyone spend the extra money for something that isn't that much better than what we have now? Supply and demand, and all that.
Or am I missing something?
Re:Mmmm sulfur (Score:5, Informative)
We produce tons of sulfur waste every day simply because it's an abundant element to begin with. It may not smell nice when mixed with other things (as pure sulfur in its crytal form is nearly oderless), but it doesn't pose a significant health risk.
Heavy metals, petrolium distilates, and other exotic chemicals are still the greatest threat to landfill leaching.
All in all, with only 300 charges, I'll keep my fingers crossed they come up with something better.
Re:Yeah right. (Score:4, Informative)
The biggest problem of putting fuel cells into small electronics is the heat generated. Only the PEM [dodfuelcell.com] (Proton Exchange Membrane) type fuel cell can operate at low temperatures (as low as 80 C). Obviously this is a little too warm, so it isn't really useful for an MP3 player just yet.
PEM fuel cells must operate with hydrogen or use an external reformer to seperate hydrogen from a hydrocarbon. The big thing that prevents PEM fuel cells from becoming commercially viable (like being used in cars) is that a platinum catalyst must be used so most of the research on PEM fuel cells is to reduce the amount of platinum needed.
Re:Yeah right. (Score:2, Informative)
errr.... 2004 + (3-5 years) = 2007-2009.
So polymer electrolyte fuel cells and Li-S will be out at around the same time?
OMG sulfur is teh stink! (Score:5, Informative)
UPS systems also use AGM (absorbed glass mat) lead acid batteries. Don't smell any farts coming out of your UPS, do you?
Likewise, no, your laptop or PDA will not smell because of a battery containing sulfur. You'll have to keep blaming your flatulence on the dog.
Re:Someone else (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mmmm sulfur (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Light on details? (Score:3, Informative)
Of course there are many other important factors in a battery other than these such as the shelf life and "memory effect" but in general, this technology does appear to be as exciting as batteries get.
Toxic vaporware. (Score:2, Informative)
I thought it said they were shipping samples now. The several-years business is about when they might be competitive as a general service laptop battery.
= = = = =
But that looks like pretty TOXIC vaporware.
Not that the other battery technologies don't contain toxic substances, of course. (Cadmium, for instance, is pretty nasty if you ingest it.) But high-energy storage devices like this are prone to catching fire if they develop an internal short. As a number of users of cellphones with Lithium batteries discovered not too long ago.
If a lithium-sulpher battery catches fire I'd expect it to emit a lot of sulphur dioxide. That's a serious poison gas and a really painful way to die.
Re:Excellent for the Chinese Market (Score:3, Informative)
Think back; pretty much every battery that has ever existed has had volatile materials in it. Earlier batteries had less volatile chemicals, but also stored less energy per unit weight. It goes with the territory of being a chemical power source.
-Z
Re:Isn't this already obsolete? (Score:5, Informative)
the Ultralife rechargable batteries
have half (max 162 Wh/kg) the energy
density of the new Sion Lithium-Sulphur
cells (300 Wh/kg).
See:
Sion tech description
Ultralife batteries specs sheet
Re:Isn't this already obsolete? (Score:3, Informative)
Sion tech description [sionpower.com]
Ultralife batteries specs sheet [ultralifebatteries.com]
Re:Only 300 recharges? (Score:2, Informative)
Don't know where you're getting that 100 cycle lifetime from. I think these people [batteryuniversity.com] would like to have a word with you regarding a litte chemistry and physics.
Disclaimer: I don't work for them and I'm about as close as it gets to being a 'crazy eyed bandit' when it comes to discharing my laptop battery. It has served me for 18 months before crapping out and that's with multiple deep discharges per day. A lot more than 100 discharges...
Looks like I need to go catch up on reading some Nerdular Nerdance [homestarrunner.com]...
Re:Fix a different problem... (Score:5, Informative)
1. Pu-238 is an Alpha Emitter.
2. Alpha particles can't penetrate your skin (or even a sheet of paper) and are only dangerous if they are inhaled.
3. From the EPA [epa.gov]: "The isotope, plutonium-238, is not useful for nuclear weapons. However it generates significant heat through its decay process, which make it useful as a power source. Using a thermocouple, a device that converts heat into electric power, satellites rely on plutonium as a power source. Tiny amounts also provide power to heart pacemakers."
Know anyone who's got a pacemaker?
Re:Fix a different problem... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Isn't this already obsolete? (Score:4, Informative)
Ultralife [army-technology.com]
And the reason why this old article obsoletes these newly unveiled magic technology (specifically talked about within) is in this quote:
"The future of lithium battery technology lies in Li/MnO2, a solid-cathode chemistry. Unlike both Lithium/Sulphur Dioxide (Li/SO2) and Lithium/Thionyl Chloride (Li/SOCl2), which are liquid-cathode chemistries, Li/MnO2 does not suffer from the effects of passivation, which causes liquid-cathode batteries to suffer from a voltage delay phenomenon causing the cell voltage to be depressed when a load is applied, particularly after extended periods of storage with no use. This condition is exacerbated at low temperatures resulting in the possibility that a liquid cathode battery may not start up when called into use. Li/MnO2 batteries, which are inherently safer than the other types of lithium batteries, do not suffer from the voltage delay phenomenon."
Re:Yeah right. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:OMG sulfur is teh stink! (Score:4, Informative)
I think that the sulfur containing batteries are using alkyl sulfate, SO3- (immobilized, bonded on the polymer), no smell. However, there is another possibility that the polymer is using mercaptans or alkyl thiols. Depending on the purity of the polymer, it can stink (not completely bonded with leftover thiols) or not stink (all are bonded, without any leftover thiols).
The alkyl sulfate polymer make sense as charge carriers, but the Li+ could be too intimate (closely bonded) to the SO3- group to make it a viable group. OTOH, alkyl thiols can work just as good, however these polymeric compounds are not quite that easy to synthesize. PEO, polyethylene oxide (CH2CH2O)x, is a polymer that has been used for many battery applications. Possibly, they could have something close to PEO using sulfur.
My Lithium 2 cents (Score:5, Informative)
First a few things about Lithium based batteries. When they say a cycle life of 300 or 500 cycles that means the 80% thresh hold. In other words at 300 or 500 cycles, the "lifetime" of the battery you will still see 80% capacity when all those cycles are through. That doesn't signify the end of the battery either, we have some LG Chemical Lithium Ions (176 Wh/kg) that are 4 years old and still doing well. The problem is that after 2 years the chemicals inside the battery start reacting and could theoretically internally short, causing a dead battery, fires, or the classic cell phone battery explosion, yes that can happen. For this reason we are going to be disposing of those batteries soon, they pose a chemical hazard, you should also do that after 2 years with your cell phone battery just incase.
In comparison to Nickels, Li batteries are much better 90-95% charge efficient (what you get out compared to what you put in). Nickels range from 60-75%. They are MUCH more energy dense (175 Wh/Kg - 500 Wh/Kg (theoretical limit I think)) while Nickels range in the 75 Wh/Kg range. And oh yeah Lithiums don't get hot, one crucial issue with Nickel based batteries is the end of charge temperature can hit 150+. Also cycle life is better Nickels can get about 200 cycles before they hit the 80% mark, and well that is only if you treat them very nicely. Lithiums are more forgiving with some missuse (just don't over volt them).
So all in all Lithium Chemistries are pretty much the best battery format out there now, and for a while too. Lithium is the most energy dense element after all. This is why everyone is switching over to them for just about any serious work. sure cycle life is low, nothing compared to a Lead Acid, but companies are working on that, hell 5 years ago a lithium cell that lasted 200 cycles was impressive now Kokam sells Lithiums with 500 cycles and still 80% life with a starting capacity of over 200 Wh/Kg, roughly 4 times as energy dense as a Lead Acid.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
Re:Voltage of Cells (Score:1, Informative)
elements != compounds (Score:3, Informative)
The properties of an element contribute to the properties of the compound (e.g., fluorine sucks up electrons, which is why trifluoroacetic acid is so much more acidic than acetic acid / vinegar), but like so much else in life, it's very context-specific.
Re:Fix a different problem... (Score:2, Informative)
One way to make it switch faster is to increase the voltage so it takes less time to charge the capacitor, but this increases the power usage.
So I very much doubt that it would work well adding even more capacitance to the circuit
Re:Fix a different problem... (Score:3, Informative)
The who thing could be miniaturized more by using a tiny SRG (Stirling Radioisotope Generator). You see, instead of a thermocouple, an SRG is a tiny Stirling engine. The PU-238 heats the air inside the piston, the piston rise until an exhaust port is reached, the heat is exchanged through the exhaust port, and the piston falls. The whole assembly could easily be small enough to fit inside a cell phone battery or a laptop battery. My figures show that about 10 grams should be more than enough to power your cell phone. (~1.3 W).
Here's my design. [google.com]