When coupled with monovalent metals (Li, Na) or multivalent metals (Mg, Al), sulfur can be employed to make batteries with interesting specific properties.
Magnesium-sulfur batteries and aluminum-sulfur batteries Magnesium-sulfur (Mg-S) batteries are usually comprised of Mg metal anodes, Mg ion based electrolytes and sulfur cathodes. Similar to other metal-sulfur batteries, aluminum-sulfur (Al-S) batteries utilize Al metal anodes, Al ion based electrolytes and sulfur cathodes.
Could a lithium-sulfur battery be the future of electric cars?
A lithium-sulfur battery can pack in nearly twice the energy as a lithium-ion battery of the same weight. That could be a major plus for electric vehicles, allowing automakers to build vehicles that can go farther on a single charge without weighing them down.
An aluminum-sulfur battery that is lightweight, doesn't burn, and can be made much more cheaply than the lithium-ion batteries currently in use. When MIT's Donald Sadoway sits down with colleagues to invent something, as he often does, the bar is set high. It's not enough, he believes, for a new technology to be novel and interesting.
Metal sulfides mainly exist in metallic or half-metallic phases, which is the reason why they have high electronic conductivity. In this section, we will discuss the employment of metal oxides and sulfides in Li-S batteries.
The aluminum-sulfur battery offers cost-effective, fire-resistant energy storage, challenging lithium-ion dominance in safety and affordability. The three primary constituents of the battery are aluminum (left), sulfur (center), and rock salt crystals (right).
Can a lithium battery be made out of a better material?
Finding a better material to hold the lithium could result in an overall lighter and more compact battery. One of the more promising materials is sulfur, due to its quality, abundance and low cost. Unfortunately, some of sulfur's reactions with lithium lead to ion loss, and worse, it tends to expand, leading to degradation and a short battery life.