PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New electrolyte for the construction of magnesium-sulfur batteries

Electrolyte of excellent electrochemical stability and high efficiency -promising potential for the development of new types of batteries

New electrolyte for the construction of magnesium-sulfur batteries
2014-12-01
(Press-News.org) This news release is available in German.

The Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) established by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is pushing research relating to batteries of the next and next-but-one generations: A research team has now developed an electrolyte that may be used for the construction of magnesium-sulfur battery cells. With magnesium, higher storage densities could be achieved than with lithium. Moreover, magnesium is abundant in nature, it is non-toxic, and does not degrade in air. The new electrolyte is now presented in the journal "Advanced Energy Materials".

In many electrical devices, lithium-ion and metal-hydride batteries are applied for energy storage. Scientists are also studying alternatives to these established battery systems in order to enhance the safety, cost efficiency, sustainability, and performance of future devices. It is their objective to replace lithium by other elements. For this purpose, all battery components have to be newly developed and understanding of electrochemical processes is required.

Magnesium-based battery cells are presently considered an attractive option to replace lithium in batteries. In principle, magnesium allows higher storage densities to be reached than lithium. Other advantages of magnesium are its high abundance in nature, its non-toxicity, and its low degradation in air in contrast to lithium. So far, progress achieved in this area has been limited. For the design of magnesium batteries of high storage capacity and power density, suitable electrolytes are needed that can be easily to produced, that are stable, and can be used in high concentrations in different solvents.

At the HIU, a research team headed by Maximilian Fichtner and Zhirong Zhao-Karger has now presented a new promising electrolyte, which might allow for the development of an entirely new generation of batteries. The new electrolyte is characterized by a number of promising properties. It possesses an unprecedented electrochemical stability window and a very high efficiency. In addition, the electrolyte can be used in various solvents and at high concentrations. Moreover, the electrolyte is chemically compatible with a sulfur cathode, which can be discharged at a voltage close to the theoretical value.

Another advantage is the very simple production of the electrolyte. "Two commercially available standard chemicals, a magnesium amide and aluminium chloride, are applied. They are added to the solvent desired and subjected to stirring. This simple mixture can then be used directly as an electrolyte in the battery.", Maximilian Fichtner says.

INFORMATION:

Zhirong Zhao-Karger, Xiangyu Zhao, Di Wang, Thomas Diemant, R. Jürgen Behm, and Maximilian Fichtner: Performance Improvement of Magnesium Sulfur Batteries with Modified Non-Nucleophilic Elec-trolytes. Advanced Energy Materials. Article first published online: 6 OCT 2014. DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201401155

About the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU)

The HIU was established in January 2011 by KIT, member of the Helmholtz Association, in cooperation with Ulm University. With the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), two other renowned institutions are involved in the HIU as associated partners. The international team of about 110 scientists at HIU works on the further development of the fundamentals of viable energy storage systems for stationary and mobile use.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Württemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. Research activities focus on energy, the natural and built environment as well as on society and technology and cover the whole range extending from fundamental aspects to application. With about 9400 employees, including more than 6000 staff members in the science and education sector, and 24,500 students, KIT is one of the biggest research and education institutions in Europe. Work of KIT is based on the knowledge triangle of research, teaching, and innovation.

This press release is available on the internet at http://www.kit.edu.

The photo of printing quality may be downloaded under http://www.kit.edu or requested by mail to presse@kit.edu or phone +49 721 608-4 7414. The photo may be used in the context given above exclusively.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
New electrolyte for the construction of magnesium-sulfur batteries

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Ground-based detection of super-Earth transit paves way to remote sensing of exoplanets

Ground-based detection of super-Earth transit paves way to remote sensing of exoplanets
2014-12-01
TORONTO, December 1, 2014 - For the first time, a team of astronomers - including York University Professor Ray Jayawardhana - have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a ground-based telescope. The transit of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is the shallowest detected from the ground yet, and the success bodes well for characterizing the many small planets that upcoming space missions are expected to discover in the next few years. The international research team used the 2.5-meter Nordic Optical Telescope on the island of ...

Mental health inequalities in detection of breast cancer

2014-12-01
Women with a mental illness (including depression, anxiety and serious mental illnesses) are less likely to be screened for breast cancer, according to new research published in the BJPsych (online first). The research was led by Dr Alex J Mitchell, consultant psychiatrist in the Department of Cancer Studies, University of Leicester. Studies have previously shown there is a higher mortality rate due to cancer in people with mental illness, perhaps because of high rates of risk factors such as smoking. In addition, it appears cancer is often detected later in those with ...

Baltic Sea: Climate change counteracts decline in eutrophication

2014-12-01
Off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein at the exit of Eckernförde Bay is a hidden treasure, but it is not one of chests full of silver and gold. It is a unique scientific record. Since 1957, environmental parameters such as oxygen concentrations, temperature, salinity and nutrients have been measured monthly at the Boknis Eck time series station. "It is one of the oldest active time series stations for this kind of data worldwide," explains the scientific coordinator Prof. Dr. Hermann Bange from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. To date, however, the long ...

Microbullet hits confirm graphene's strength

Microbullet hits confirm graphenes strength
2014-12-01
Graphene's great strength appears to be determined by how well it stretches before it breaks, according to Rice University scientists who tested the material's properties by peppering it with microbullets. The two-dimensional carbon honeycomb discovered a decade ago is thought to be much stronger than steel. But the Rice lab of materials scientist Edwin "Ned" Thomas didn't need even close to a pound of graphene to prove the material is on average 10 times better than steel at dissipating kinetic energy. The researchers report in the latest edition of Science that firing ...

Women outperform men in some financial negotiations, research finds

2014-12-01
WASHINGTON - In certain circumstances, women may be more effective than men when negotiating money matters, contrary to conventional wisdom that men drive a harder bargain in financial affairs, according to a new meta-analysis published by the American Psychological Association. "One reason men earn higher salaries than women could be women's apparent disadvantage vis-à-vis men in some types of negotiations," said lead author Jens Mazei, a doctoral candidate at Germany's University of Münster. "But we discovered that this disadvantage is not inevitable; rather, ...

Politics, not severe weather, drive global-warming views

Politics, not severe weather, drive global-warming views
2014-12-01
EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Scientists have presented the most comprehensive evidence to date that climate extremes such as droughts and record temperatures are failing to change people's minds about global warming. Instead, political orientation is the most influential factor in shaping perceptions about climate change, both in the short-term and long-term, said Sandra Marquart-Pyatt, a Michigan State University sociologist and lead investigator on the study. "The idea that shifting climate patterns are influencing perceptions in the United States - we didn't find that," ...

Golden Ratio offers a unity of science

Golden Ratio offers a unity of science
2014-12-01
It is said to represent a "cosmic constant" found in the curvature of elephant tusks, the shape of a kudu's horn, the destructive beauty of Hurricane Katrina, and in the astronomical grandeur of how planets, moons, asteroids and rings are distributed in the solar system, to name but a few. Now, researchers from the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Pretoria are also suggesting that the "Golden Ratio" - designated by the Greek symbol ∅ (letter Phi) with a mathematical value of about 1.618 - also relates to the topology of space-time, and to a biological species ...

Iberian orcas, increasingly trapped

Iberian orcas, increasingly trapped
2014-12-01
Thanks to the more than 11,200 sightings of cetaceans over the course of ten years, Spanish and Portuguese researchers have been able to identify, in detail, the presence of orcas in the Gulf of Cadiz, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea. According to the models that have been generated, the occurrence of these cetaceans is linked to the distribution of their main prey (red tuna) and their presence in Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan waters is thus more limited than previously thought. In 2011, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment considered the small population ...

Launch of a NuPECC-ESF report

2014-12-01
The report was presented in Brussels today at an event held under the auspices of the Italian EU Presidency, gathering over sixty experts in the fields of nuclear physics and medical research. This document provides an updated overview of how fundamental nuclear physics research has had and will continue to have an impact on developments in medicine. While most nuclear physics phenomena are far beyond our daily experience there is a great variety of related techniques and applications such as those in medicine which have considerable impact on society. The development ...

Uterine contractions increase the success of artificial insemination

Uterine contractions increase the success of artificial insemination
2014-12-01
The negative impact of contractions during in vitro fertilisation is a well-known fact. What was unknown until now was the effect it had on artificial insemination. A new study has discovered that it is the contrary to that seen in embryo transfer: there is an improved chance of getting pregnant. Researchers from the Valencian Infertility Institute (IVI) have demonstrated that the number of contractions of the uterus per minute is a parameter associated with success in artificial insemination procedures. The study, recently published in the journal 'Fertility & Sterility', ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The Lancet: Billions lack access to healthy diets as food systems drive climate and health crises, but sustainable, equitable solutions are within reach, says new EAT-Lancet report

Countries with highest reported levels of hearing loss have lowest use of hearing aids

Early medical abortion at home up to 12 weeks is safe, effective, and comparable to hospital care

New approach to gravitational wave detection opens the Milli-Hz Frontier

Rice membrane extracts lithium from brines with greater speed, less waste

Exercise lowers disease risk. This researcher wants to understand how

Hurricane evacuation patterns differ based on where the storm hits

Stem Cell Reports welcomes new members to its Editorial Board

Researchers develop molecular qubits that communicate at telecom frequencies

Mayo Clinic awarded up to $40 million by ARPA-H for pioneering air safety research

People with Down syndrome have early neuroinflammation

CNIO researchers create the “human repairome”, a catalogue of DNA “scars” that will help define personalized cancer treatments

Strengthening biosecurity screening for genes that encode proteins of concern

Global wildfire disasters are growing in frequency and cost

Wildfire management: Reactive response and recovery, or proactive mitigation and prevention

Phosphine detected in the atmosphere of a low-temperature brown dwarf

Scientists develop rapid and scalable platform for in planta directed evolution

New tiny prehistoric fish species unlocks origins of catfish and carp

Plant microbiota: War and peace under the surface

Fossilized ear bones rewrite the history of freshwater fish

Detection of phosphine in a brown dwarf atmosphere raises more questions

USF study: Ancient plankton hint at steadier future for ocean life

MIT researchers find a simple formula could guide the design of faster-charging, longer-lasting batteries

Towards efficient room-temperature fluorine recovery from fluoropolymers

Mapping RNA-protein 'chats' could uncover new treatments for cancer and brain disease

The hidden burden of solitude: How social withdrawal influences the adolescent brain

Kidney disease study reveals unexpected marker

AI wrote nearly a quarter of corporate press releases in 2024

The ‘big bad wolf’ fears the human ‘super predator’ – for good reason

Kidney organoid unlocks genetic cause of chronic kidney disease

[Press-News.org] New electrolyte for the construction of magnesium-sulfur batteries
Electrolyte of excellent electrochemical stability and high efficiency -promising potential for the development of new types of batteries