Summary Draft 2

William Lockett’s article titled "How an accidental discovery made this year could change the world" published on the website BigThink.com (2022), describes how an accidental discovery made by scientists at Drexel, has potentially made the better alternative to the commonly used lithium ion batteries; lithium sulphur batteries, commercially viable.

The lithium-ion batteries currently used in most electronic applications have many drawbacks.Firstly, the materials used to produce these batteries, need to be mined. This mining is extremely damaging to the environment as it destroys ecosystems and releases toxic chemicals. 

Secondly, there are battery degradation and density issues. Battery degradation refers to batteries losing the capability to store charge over time. And density issues refer to the batteries being very heavy, oversized and bulky for their energy density. These issues limit the feasibility of newer applications to adopt battery power and slow the adoption of current applications like EVs. These cells also have a tendancy to spontaneously combust when damaged.

On the flip side, lithium-sulphur batteries solve all of lithium ion’s issues. Lithium-sulphur is less damaging to the environment due to the abundance of sulphur, can be 3 times more energy dense resulting in lighter batteries, is less likely to combust and is cheaper to produce without sacrificing charge speeds. 

However, lithium sulphur has one major drawback. That being its life span. Lithium sulphur could only last half as long as Lithium-ion. The Drexel team were tasked with solving this problem by changing compounds of lithium sulphur in the battery’s cathode.

What they found on accident, was a chemical phase of sulphur which essentially stopped battery degradation. resulting in a battery which could last at least twice as long as lithium-ion while being 3 times as energy dense.

Now the scientists are working on understanding the behaviour of the sulphur, how it was created and how to ensure its permanency. Alongside this, the scientists are also looking into an even more eco-friendly battery technology – sodium sulphur.

This discovery could lead to the creation of the ultimate mass-market battery, bringing rapid adoption and carbon neutrality to EVs and various other, previously unfeasible sectors.

personally, I feel this discovery is truly groundbreaking and revolutionary but needs much more research and development for lithium-sulphur batteries to be realised. Not just in terms of its chemical properties but also the impact of removing sulphur from an environment, production methods and recycling efforts. Battery technology is currently in its infancy in terms of iterative improvements, unlike combustion technology. As a result, the improvements in battery, for now, will be large and fast. People like the scientists at Drexel are making the future a reality and I'm excited for it.