It’s not, if you charge any capacity with 1C, it will take an hour. Looks like they achieved stable charging at over 4C (charging current in amperes 4x larger than stated capacity in amp-hours).
There are tons of technologies that are inherently unscalable. Or won’t be for another 50 years. Commercial unviability is one thing, but physic limitations are another matter.
What the general public thinks: Car or phone battery.
What the scientists mean: Button cell battery for hearing aids.
Reality: never makes it past the article/news cycle to scalable manufacture.
Did you want to add anything to the discussion or just make a snarky comment? I looked through the paper linked in the article and didn’t see a capacity listed.
Our approach directs an alternative Li2S deposition pathway to the commonly reported lateral growth and 3D thickening growth mode, ameliorating the electrode passivation. Therefore, a Li–S cell capable of charging/discharging at 5C (12 min) while maintaining excellent cycling stability (82% capacity retention) for 1000 cycles is demonstrated. Even under high S loading (8.3 mg cm–2) and low electrolyte/sulfur ratio (3.8 mL mg–1), the sulfur cathode still delivers a high areal capacity of >7 mAh cm–2 for 80 cycles.
A 5C charging rate is great, but it’s pretty useless if the battery is too small to be practical.
“Fully charged in 12 minutes” is meaningless without a capacity.
Ok it has the ‘capacity’ to charge in 12 minutes - can you smell smoke?
Pretty much any battery can charge in 12 minutes if you can handle their thermal constraints.
A decent lipo can charge at 5C, but it significantly reduces the cycle life. They are claiming 1000 cycles at that charge rate.
I agree, the title is pretty useless.
Even something like “Fully charged a double A battery in 28 seconds” would’ve been useful/interesting.
It’s not, if you charge any capacity with 1C, it will take an hour. Looks like they achieved stable charging at over 4C (charging current in amperes 4x larger than stated capacity in amp-hours).
EDIT: C is not Coulomb in this case
The point being, if it only works in the lab for minimal capacities, it’s never going to see the light of production.
How do you think batteries started out?
There are tons of technologies that are inherently unscalable. Or won’t be for another 50 years. Commercial unviability is one thing, but physic limitations are another matter.
True, but that doesn’t mean this is one of them.
That said, I think salt batteries will eclipse these.
What are you referring to when you say “salt batteries”?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten-salt_battery
What the general public thinks: Car or phone battery.
What the scientists mean: Button cell battery for hearing aids.
Reality: never makes it past the article/news cycle to scalable manufacture.
If only the claim were accompanied by a detailed explanation of what the people involved have actually achieved.
Did you want to add anything to the discussion or just make a snarky comment? I looked through the paper linked in the article and didn’t see a capacity listed.
A 5C charging rate is great, but it’s pretty useless if the battery is too small to be practical.
No I didn’t want to add anything to the discussion, thank you.