Lithium sulphide batteries?

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Maybe he can also tell us the source of all the lithium for this fairy tale. That detail is always left off the green dream.

Baby steps. Even coming up with batteries that are more energy dense, or last more cycles, or are more recyclable would be at least a good start to solving the shortage of battery materials.
But unfortunately, baby steps aren't going to get us to our 2050 goals never mind our 2030 goals. We would need improvements by orders of magnitude to accomplish that. And those improvements would have to happen yesterday.

But even with or without government mandates and government meddling and any pretend climate crisis, the prize for an improved battery is so huge that I am certain if the laws of physics allow, we will figure it out.

[riders2010]

Maybe he can also tell us the source of all the lithium for this fairy tale. That detail is always left off the green dream.

The fairy tell is that things aren’t changing or
At the very least looking to change.
But you stay in your locked up room all safe and
The same as yesterday and the day before.
While the world moves on.

Actually there have been quite a few discoveries.
If they spent as much as they do finding oil there
Likely wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
I didn’t write the article people investing
Billions did. But they’re dumb right? Lmao

[sumdumguy]

A Lithium Battery in a scooter spontaneous combusted and caused an apartment fire in the Bronx early this morning.

[riders2010]

A Lithium Battery in a scooter spontaneous combusted and caused an apartment fire in the Bronx early this morning.

A gas powered car collided with another car and blew up?

[TSIPP]

A gas powered car collided with another car and blew up?

No it didn’t.

[riders2010]

No it didn’t.

Bahaha oh yes it did 150 times a day on average
Gasoline vehicle fires in the USA. Not saying
That batteries have been developed to a safe
Pace but gasoline engines are not without
Danger. Fire trucks called to crashes for a reason.
Just some facts.

[TOM4CWB]

U Mich team develops 1,000-cycle lithium-sulfur battery
12 January 2022

A University of Michigan team has shown that a network of aramid nanofibers, recycled from Kevlar, can enable lithium-sulfur batteries to overcome their Achilles heel of cycle life, delivering an estimated 1,000 real-world cycles. A paper on their work is published in Nature Communications.

LiS Battery Diagram

A diagram of the battery shows how lithium ions can return to the lithium electrode while the lithium polysulfides can't get through the membrane separating the electrodes. In addition, spiky dendrites growing from the lithium electrode can't short the battery by piercing the membrane and reaching the sulfur electrode. Credit: Ahmet Emre, Kotov Lab, University of Michigan.

There are a number of reports claiming several hundred cycles for lithium-sulfur batteries, but it is achieved at the expense of other parameters—capacity, charging rate, resilience and safety. The challenge nowadays is to make a battery that increases the cycling rate from the former 10 cycles to hundreds of cycles and satisfies multiple other requirements including cost.

Biomimetic engineering of these batteries integrated two scales—molecular and nanoscale. For the first time, we integrated ionic selectivity of cell membranes and toughness of cartilage. Our integrated system approach enabled us to address the overarching challenges of lithium-sulfur batteries.

—Nicholas Kotov, the Irving Langmuir Distinguished University Professor of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, who led the research
Previously, Kotov’s team had relied on networks of aramid nanofibers infused with an electrolyte gel to stop one of the main causes of short cycle-life: dendrites that grow from one electrode to the other, piercing the membrane. The toughness of aramid fibers stops the dendrites.

However, lithium sulfur batteries have another problem: small molecules of lithium and sulfur form and flow to the lithium, attaching themselves and reducing the battery's capacity. The membrane needed to allow lithium ions to flow from the lithium to the sulfur and back—and to block the lithium and lithium polysulfides. This ability is called ion selectivity.

Inspired by biological ion channels, we engineered highways for lithium ions where lithium polysulfides cannot pass the tolls.

—Ahmet Emre, a postdoc in chemical engineering and co-first author
The lithium ions and lithium polysulfides are similar in size, so it wasn’t enough to block the lithium polysulfides by making small channels. Mimicking pores in biological membranes, the U-M researchers added an electrical charge to the pores in the battery membrane.

They did this by harnessing the lithium polysulfides themselves: they stuck to the aramid nanofibers, and their negative charges repelled the lithium polysulfide ions that continued to form at the sulfur electrode. Positively charged lithium ions, however, could pass freely.

As a battery, Kotov says that the design is “nearly perfect,” with its capacity and efficiency approaching the theoretical limits. It can also handle the temperature extremes of automotive life, from the heat of charging in full sun to the chill of winter. However, the real-world cycle life may be shorter with fast charging, more like 1,000 cycles, he sayid. This is considered a ten-year lifespan.

Along with the higher capacity, lithium-sulfur batteries have sustainability advantages over other lithium-ion batteries. Sulfur is much more abundant than the cobalt of lithium-ion electrodes. In addition, the aramid fibers of the battery membrane can be recycled from old bulletproof vests.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense. The team studied the membrane at the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization. The University of Michigan has patented the membrane and Kotov is developing a company to bring it to market.

Kotov is also the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor of Engineering and a professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, and macromolecular science and engineering."

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/01/20220112-umich.html

Resources

Emre et al. (2022) “Study: Multifactorial engineering of biomimetic membranes for batteries with multiple high-performance parameters” Nature Communications doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27861-w

Posted on 12 January 2022 in Batteries, Li-Sulfur | Permalink | Comments (4)

Cheers

[TOM4CWB]

Wow... this is quite a 'rabbit hole' to go down!!!

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/01/index.html

Sales of electrified MINIs up 64.3% in 2021, 18% of total sales
17 January 2022

MINI increased worldwide vehicle sales by 3.3% to 302,144 units 2021. Sales of MINI models with electrified drive systems climbed by 64.3% to 53,243 vehicles—around 18% of total worldwide sales in 2021.

P90449108_lowRes_mini-electric--mini-

MINI Electric & MINI Cooper SE Countryman

The winner of the year was the fully electric MINI Cooper SE. The MINI Electric even managed to almost double its sales (plus 98.2%). It is now the most popular model variant in the entire MINI product range.

34,851 units of the MINI Cooper SE were sold worldwide last year. In addition, 18, 392 units of the MINI Cooper SE Countryman ALL4 PHEV were sold—a sales increase of 24.2%. Almost every fourth newly registered MINI Countryman hit the road with an electrified drivetrain.

The most important market for the MINI Cooper SE in 2021 was again Germany, where more than 10,000 units of the fully electric model variant were sold. Added to this were 3,473 units of the MINI Cooper SE Countryman ALL4, so that in Germany around 31% of all newly registered MINIs in 2021 are electrified.

A higher proportion is only achieved in a few countries worldwide, including Norway, where around 96% of all new MINIs delivered to customers last year had a purely electric or plug-in hybrid drivetrain. This rate is only surpassed by Iceland. There, exclusively electrified MINI were sold for the first time in 2021. The MINI Cooper SE accounted for 62% of sales and the MINI Cooper SE Countryman ALL4 for 38%.

Posted on 17 January 2022 in Electric (Battery), Market Background, Plug-ins, Sales | Permalink | Comments (0)

BHP orders two Wabtec FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives
17 January 2022

Wabtec Corporation announced an order from BHP Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) for two FLXdrive battery locomotives (earlier post). The deal builds momentum in the market for the world’s first 100%, battery-powered locomotive and supports the Australia-based natural resource company’s plan to decarbonize its rail network.

Earlier this month, Rio Tinto announced that it purchase four 7MWh FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives from Wabtec Corporation for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of the company’s strategy to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. (Earlier post.)

The FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive represents the future of sustainable rail operations. The rail and mining industries are on the cusp of technological advancements to equip customers with zero-emission locomotive fleets. The FLXdrive is a major step toward eventually achieving that vision. It will provide BHP with the tractive effort, fuel savings, emissions reductions and reliability to cost effectively run their rail operations.

—Rogerio Mendonca, President of Freight Equipment for Wabtec
BHP will receive the newest version of the FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives in 2023 with an energy capacity of 7 megawatt hours (MWh). Based on the topography of the route and BHP’s rail operations, the FLXdrive is anticipated to reduce the company’s fuel costs and emissions in percentage by double digits per train.

BHP currently uses four diesel-electric locomotives in a consist to pull trains comprising approximately 270 cars carrying 38,000 tons of iron ore. The FLXdrives will join the diesel locomotives to form a hybrid consist, and recharge during the trip through regenerative braking. Wabtec’s next generation energy-management system will determine the optimal times to discharge and recharge the batteries along the route ensuring the most fuel-efficient operation of the entire locomotive consist during the trip.

Posted on 17 January 2022 in Electric (Battery), Mining, Rail | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amazing to say the least!!!

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Interesting development Tom.

What the article just barely mentions is that these aren't plug in electric locomotives. The train is still diesel powered by conventional diesel electric locomotives.

But on downhill grades the battery locomotives can be recharged through braking, and discharged going back uphill. Which is a very good idea. I checked out the elevations of some of their Western Australian mines and the route to the coast. Approx 600m elevation change, with some gentle undulations along the way. Doesn't look like a lot of opportunities to recharge and discharge, at least compared to our own mountain passes. But if it does prove to make economic sense in that topogr8, then it would make even more sense in our mountain passes. Could probably even use the waste heat from the diesel engines to keep the battery locomotives warm.

But that is a far cry from electrifying the fleet as is the stated goal. Will be interesting to watch how it plays out.

[jazz]

If I had to venture a guess, there will be way more people fully living in the meta than owning an electric car. Way more.