New All-Solid Sulfur Based Battery Outperforms Lithium Ion

olsmeister writes "The new all-solid battery design uses solid sulfur and lithium, and outperforms existing lithium-ion batteries with four times the energy density. The battery can maintain a capacity of 1200 milliampere-hours per gram after 300 charge-discharge cycles. More work needs to be done, but one would think this new technology could have applications in renewable energy storage, electric cars, and consumer electronics."

Comments

Re:That is very energy dense

[hlavac]

What? 1.2Ah per gram, thats like 7g for 12V version, not 175g!

Re:That is very energy dense

[aaarrrgggh]

No, it is a function of the battery chemistry. You have LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, and others, each with different charge voltages. A good read: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_lithium_ion

Re:That is very energy dense

[Muad'Dave]

They're named the way they are because of their chemistry. An alkaline cell has an open circuit voltage of 1.43V - close enough to the old Zinc-Carbon cell's OC voltage of 1.5V. A lead-acid cell has an open circuit voltage of about 2.1V. 6 of those in series makes 12-ish V. The cell potential between the anode and cathode materials determines their open circuit voltage (see this chart).

Here's a great FAQ on battery chemistries.