polysulfide intermediates tagged posts

Chemists Decipher Reaction Process that could Improve Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Electric battery
Research by UCLA chemists on the sulfur reduction reaction in lithium-sulfur batteries could lead to crucial advancements in battery capacity, speed and life span.

A combination of battery technology and catalysis opens new avenues for cheap, high-capacity batteries. Lithium-sulfur batteries can potentially store five to 10 times more energy than current state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries at much lower cost. Current lithium-ion batteries use cobalt oxide as the cathode, an expensive mineral mined in ways that harm people and the environment. Lithium-sulfur batteries replace cobalt oxide with sulfur, which is abundant and cheap, costing less than one-hundredth the price of cobalt.

But there’s a catch: Chemical reactions, particularly the sulfur reduction reaction, are very comple...

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