Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sony Creating Sulfur-Based Batteries With 40% More Capacity Than Li-Ion (hothardware.com)

Posted by timothy on from the how-long-a-piece-of-string-is dept.

MojoKid writes: Since the original iPhone was released in 2007, we have seen some incredible advances in smartphone processing power along with a wealth of feature improvements like faster Wi-Fi and cellular speeds and larger, higher resolution displays. However, battery technology, for the most part, hasn't kept up. There are a few major battery suppliers but Sony is currently an underdog, commanding just 8 percent of the market for compact lithium-ion batteries. Its three largest competitors — Samsung (SDI), Panasonic and LG Chem — each command around 20 percent of the market. In an effort to change that, Sony is developing a new type of battery chemistry that can boost runtimes by 40 percent compared to lithium-ion batteries of the same volume. Sony's batteries use a sulfur compound instead of lithium compounds for the positive electrodes, reportedly allowing for much great energy density. Sulfur batteries can also supposedly be made 30 percent smaller than traditional lithium-ion cells while maintaining the same run times. The company is now working to ensure that the new battery chemistry is safe enough for commercial use.

3 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Re:"Supposedly"?! by sims+2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think phones are small enough. How about we work on making them last at least 1 day on a full charge?

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
  2. Re:Another day, another future battery tech story by swb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We need a "where are they now" battery roundup story where they look at why all the promising breakthroughs never delivered.

  3. Re:where is the factory? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let me know when there are factories building these batteries, until then, *yawn*

    This is a site with "news for nerds". If you are not interested in reading about interesting scientific research then go elsewhere. I am just happy that it is Friday, and so far there are no SJW articles.

    Btw, the summary is muddle-headed. It compares "lithium compounds" to "sulfer compounds" when the Sony battery is actually Lithium-Sulfur, with both lithium and sulfer. Lithium-Sulfur batteries are not new, but they are not widely used because they tend to degrade and have short lifetimes. Maybe Sony figured out a solution to that.