Science Daily April 2, 2018
A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have demonstrated the potential of using lignosulfonate to design sustainable, low-cost electrode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries. In its elemental form, sulfur is nonconductive, but when combined with carbon at elevated temperatures, it becomes highly conductive, allowing it to be used in novel battery technologies. They have created a lithium-sulfur battery prototype that is the size of a watch battery, which can cycle about 200 times. The next step is to scale up the prototype to markedly increase the discharge rate and the battery’s cycle life… read more.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a patented method to use cheap and abundant paper biomass to make lithium-sulfur batteries. Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute