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Lithium Sulfur Batteries Coming Game Changer

Arthur Hanson

Well-known member
The constantly advancing technologies around lithium sulfur batteries that offer currently five times the capacity of standard lithium batteries will be a game changer when the stability challenges are met that several companies feel they may meet within a year, for the semi/nanotech industry by changing the very foundation of supplying electrical power to such an extent it will open up entire new areas to electrical and electronic devices in ways we haven't imagined. This will open entire new markets and expand the demand for semis at all levels from simple power control systems to complex autonomous systems at the highest levels. The companies that develop systems in parallel rather than waiting for the advances to be complete will be the huge winners to create and dominate markets as they come into being and will have huge first mover advantages. The more companies that look at taking a parallel track over a serial one the faster these new frontiers will be developed. With the "Great Acceleration" the more parallel development that goes on the faster the pace of advancement and opportunity. The world semis have already created in transparency, breadth and depth have already dramatically changed the business, political and social ecosystems in ways previously considered unimaginable at ever increasing speed and this is just the beginning. Battery and new energy storage technologies combined with new energy sources and ways of transferring that energy are going to change the world in ways we have yet to imagine.

 
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Promising in the long run, but many years away from production. Look at this more like a proof of concept: there is plenty of headroom for better batteries. But what was demonstrated were some small experimental surfaces built with methods that would not be used in a factory. When you wrap this in containment, safety, mechanical support, and cooling, you are probably in the range of 3x better than Tesla or cellphone batteries of today.
 
Nikola Motors claim to be releasing a viable battery in ten months and so far they have an excellent record of backing up their claims. Word is this is a viable sulfur lithium battery. If there are any others thoughts on this timeline, don't hesitate to post. I feel we'll see significant progress this year from a range of studies,

 
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The articles talk about powering phones and vehicles for longer, but looking at it the other way up they could be made much lighter with the same range as now. That could be especially interesting for electric aircraft.
 
The articles talk about powering phones and vehicles for longer, but looking at it the other way up they could be made much lighter with the same range as now. That could be especially interesting for electric aircraft.

These are exciting times in almost all technologies that have we have hit a critical mass where many technologies and methods are feeding on each other. Communications, search engines, AI/ML software, compute and memory power combined with ever more researchers are converting once what were considered dreams into reality. It also presents dangers from social to physical to political for we are now dealing with almost unprecedented power and dangers in a number of areas. I hope we have the wisdom to use the opportunities before us wisely to bring our the best in everybody and the environment we must live in.
 
TNT is relatively low energy content. Just really, really good at releasing it fast.

If Nikola really have the better battery that should be good for everyone. But you need massive investment to produce enough to tilt the market, lots of testing and experience with managing it across a range of temperatures and use cycles. And also what is the specific power? Zinc-air has great energy density but miserable power. Many chemistries are slow. Just like TNT, the uses depend on the rate of power delivery and Li-S advocates seem never to talk about that.

I'd love to see improvements. I'm sure improvements will happen, maybe doubling energy density in 5 years and getting to 1M km for lifetime use in vehicles. If this does not require any exotic materials of questonable provenance, the ICE car will be dead with doubling what a battery can do. But, I am also really suspicious of hype, and respectful of the scale of investment now needed. Action, not just talk.
 
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