Green news and more V6.34

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Sad to say, Computerworld was a little light-weight. Here is a better source: Going solid-state could make batteries safer and longer-lasting | MIT News

Illustrations show the crystal structure of a superionic conductor. The backbone of the material is a body-centred cubic-like arrangement of sulphur anions. Lithium atoms are depicted in green, sulfur atoms in yellow, PS4 tetrahedra in purple, and GeS4 tetrahedra in blue. Researchers have revealed the fundamental relationship between anion packing and ionic transport in fast lithium-conducting materials.

Image: Yan Wang​

The challenge is how to transport ions without physical changes that could lead to breaks and shorts. Today batteries use a thin, plastic mesh, with liquid electrolyte. The plastic mesh keeps the electrodes from touching and shorting out while the electrolyte transports the ions. This is not a trivial problem:

Now researchers at MIT and Samsung, and in California and Maryland, have developed a new approach to one of the three basic components of batteries, the electrolyte. The new findings are based on the idea that a solid electrolyte, rather than the liquid used in today’s most common rechargeables, could greatly improve both device lifetime and safety — while providing a significant boost in the amount of power stored in a given space.

The results are reported in the journal Nature Materials in a paper by MIT postdoc Yan Wang, visiting professor of materials science and engineering Gerbrand Ceder, and five others. They describe a new approach to the development of solid-state electrolytes that could simultaneously address the greatest challenges associated with improving lithium-ion batteries, the technology now used in everything from cellphones to electric cars.​

This reads like an analytical approach to identify candidates . . . important but not a breakthrough in materials. In effect it is like papers predicting high-temperature, superconductive materials that often have other 'issues.' For example, using H{2}S that requires extreme pressure and still has to be cooled.

Useful, true, but not a world-class innovation.

Bob Wilson