Electric vehicles (EVs) offer numerous advantages over traditional gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles, including quiet operation, instant torque, lower fueling costs (when charged at home), and significantly reduced maintenance. However, current battery technology remains a major challenge due to its bulkiness, weight, high manufacturing costs, and limited range. Researchers at Florida International University’s Battery Research Lab may have made a breakthrough that could address these limitations, potentially revolutionizing energy storage and improving EV performance.
According to a report from the Miami-based school, researchers are working on some next-generation battery designs, chemistries that go beyond lithium-ion, the latest and greatest that’s currently available. Bilal El-Zahab, associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computing, along with others, is working on improving the lithium-sulfur chemistry.
Since sulfur is plentiful and holds more energy, this design provides numerous benefits over what’s available today. These batteries are less expensive, lighter in weight, and incredibly energy-dense, major upsides that are ideal for electric vehicles. But there’s a problem, and it’s a huge one. Lithium-sulfur batteries work amazingly well, though they may be rendered completely useless after just 50 or so charges, and that basically renders this technology a non-starter.
During charging and discharging, ions move around inside these batteries. This chemical reaction between the sulfur and lithium generates polysulfides, or “lithium-containing sulfur compounds,” which, in short order, muck up the delicate internal balance, quickly rendering a battery useless. “We started working with these next-generation battery chemistries eight years ago,” stated El-Zahab in a story published by FIU News. “The first charging cycle was great. By cycle 20, it was a useless lump of metal,” he added, underscoring the issue at hand.”
But after many years of research, El-Zahab and his team figured out how to sidestep this crushing problem, and the answer is platinum. Adding nano-sized particles of this precious metal to the sulfur-side of the battery stabilizes performance by preventing damaging reactions, likely making the lithium-sulfur chemistry a viable option going forward. Keeping costs in check, not much platinum is needed, just about 0.02 percent of the total battery needs to be this element. El-Zahab likens this to adding a pinch of salt to your food, a little bit goes a long way.
As FIU postdoctoral researcher Aqsa Nazir also explained in the same story, “We achieved a 92-percent retention after 500 charging cycles, which means the battery is nearly as good as new.”
Currently, the lithium-sulfur battery developed by El-Zahab and his team is being tested by third parties. With any luck, this new design will hold up to rigorous evaluation, so it can quickly be commercialized. If it can reduce costs, increase energy density, and go the distance, future electric vehicles could greatly benefit from lithium-sulfur battery technology.
