This is the sort of thing where I should study the paper, read the dissents and then give my completely unscientific opinion as if it were fact. I don't even play a scientist on TV :)
It sounds s bit like an Aluminum/Air battery which *is* lightweight and powerful... and very difficult to recharge short of sending it back to the bauxite mine. Lithium exposed to air is highly reactive... and exposed to about anything else like water it is explosive! (Well they H2 gas given off in the reaction is explosive). If she can control that in any way, that's phenomenal even if all we get is a disposable battery. Just sitting on the sidelines, this kind of research is fascinating! sean On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 6:23 AM, brucedp5 via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > http://qz.com/678040/doubts-have-been-raised-about-a-cambridge-professors-acclaimed-battery-breakthrough/ > Doubts have been raised about a Cambridge professor’s acclaimed battery > breakthrough > May 07, 2016 Steve LeVine > > [image > > https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/battery-e1462568109627.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=768 > (Reuters/Regis Duvignau) > ] > > Scientists have disputed a claimed breakthrough in one of the most > promising > fields of advanced battery research, casting fresh doubt on efforts to > leapfrog current lithium-ion technology. > > The questions have been raised about an advance announced by Clare Grey, a > prominent battery researcher at Cambridge University, who created a stir in > October with a paper published [ > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/350/6260/530 > ] by the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Science. In the paper, Grey > described a breakthrough with “lithium-air,” a theoretical technology that, > if it could be made to work, could possess more than five times the energy > density of current lithium-ion batteries, and roughly the same density as > gasoline. > > Such a system would solve the shortcomings of current lithium-ion > batteries, > which are costly and weigh too much to allow electrics to compete with > equivalently priced gasoline-propelled cars. Electric cars to be launched > over the next few years from GM, Tesla, and others will cost $35,000 and go > 200 miles, but if lithium-air were solved, such vehicles would go much > farther, and cost much less. > “New battery could power electric car from London to Edinburgh on a single > charge,” a distance of 400 miles, read the headline at the UK’s Daily > Telegraph [ > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11964217/New-battery-could-power-electric-car-from-London-to-Edinburgh-on-single-charge.html > ], reporting on Grey’s Oct. 29 announcement. > > But in two dissents published at Science on May 6, researchers at seven > universities and national laboratories in the US, China, and Australia > contend that Grey’s paper contained errors, and that her claims could not > be > replicated. Grey replied in the same issue of the magazine, but did not > appear to contest the substance of their objections. > > A battery’s energy is derived from the composition and action of its two > electrodes. In this case, the theory is that air would be made to flow in > and out of a battery, serving as one of the two electrodes, and essentially > weightless. The second electrode would be highly energetic metallic > lithium. > Combined, such a system would produce a light, energetic battery that would > challenge the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine head to head. > > A principal challenge faced by researchers, however, has been that > lithium-air batteries have refused to recharge more than a few tens of > times; the system has only grudgingly released the oxygen necessary for the > air flow after it’s been absorbed. Leading US labs, discouraged by failed > attempts to resolve such problems, have stopped trying [ > > http://qz.com/214969/two-big-labs-most-promising-next-generation-battery-electric-car/ > ]. > > But in her paper [ > https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151029152629.htm > ], Grey and six researchers in her Cambridge group proposed resolving the > recharge problem [ > > http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/149ca550-7e30-11e5-a1fe-567b37f80b64.html#axzz47pIPq5jS > ] (paywall) by involving two compounds as mediators— lithium iodide and > water—along with fluffy carbon. > > No one appears to have previously combined all three compounds, at least > for > the purpose of a lithium-air battery. The result, Grey’s group reported, > was > a battery that charged and recharged 2,000 times—a remarkable achievement, > if true. A decade more of work would be required to resolve other problems > with lithium-air, but one big obstacle was lifted. > > Both dissents, however, say that the compound does not have the claimed > impact. They say the special additive used by Grey’s group, lithium iodide, > does not produce sufficient energy to force release of the air from the > lithium hydroxide, and thus solve the recharging problem. > > “The breakthrough is not a breakthrough, and we are in a sense no further > along in lithium air than we were,” Venkat Viswanathan, a professor at > Carnegie Mellon University and the lead author on one of the dissents, told > Quartz. > > Grey has not responded to an email requesting a comment. > > Here is the dissent [ > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6286/667.3 > ] led by Viswananthan. He wrote it with Vikram Pande, also at > Carnegie-Mellon; K.M. Abraham at Northeastern University; Alan Luntz at the > Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; Bryan McCloskey at the University of > California, Berkeley; and Dan Addison at Liox Power. Here is Grey’s > response > to it [ > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6286/667.4 > ]. And here is the second dissent [ > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6286/667.1 > ], written by Yue Shen and Wang Zhang at Huazhong University; and Shu-Lei > Chou and Shi-Xue Dou at Australia’s University of Wollongong. Here is > Grey’s > response to their [ > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6286/667.2 > ] dissent. > [© qz.com] > ... > > http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-10/30/lithium-air-breathing-battery-electric-cars > Lithium-air 'breathing' battery makes long-distance electric cars possible > Oct 30, 2015 - Tao Liu, Clare Grey and Gabriella Bocchetti ... An efficient > lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) battery that can be recharged more than 2,000 times > could make truly long-distance electric cars possible ... their battery > includes a highly porous graphene electrode, made from one-atom-thick > sheets > of carbon atoms and an electrolyte made from the organic solvent > dimethoxyethane, mixed with the salt lithium iodide ... > ... > http://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/person/cpg27 > Professor Clare Grey FRS > > > > [dated] > > http://cleantechnica.com/2016/01/26/lithium-air-batteries-with-5x-energy-density-lithium-ion-batteries/ > Lithium-Air Batteries With 5x Energy Density Lithium-Ion Batteries ... > Jan 26, 2016 - A new lithium-oxygen battery design based around the use of > lithium superoxide (LiO2) — promising an energy density up to 5 times > higher > ... > ... > > http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/lithium-air-battery-breakthough-confirmed-energy-density.html > Breakthough in lithium-air batteries > Jan 26, 2016 ... (that's science-speak for "we proved our suspicion that we > have indeed invented a lithium-air battery technology that works") ... > ... > > http://www.pcworld.com/article/2999884/fluffy-carbon-electrodes-bring-lithium-air-batteries-closer-to-reality.html > Fluffy carbon electrodes bring lithium-air batteries closer to reality > Oct 30, 2015 - Ten times more power than lithium ion -- but still ten years > off: A fluffy carbon electrode has brought scientists at Cambridge > University a step closer to producing a workable lithium-air battery, but > many technical challenges remain ... > ... > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium–air_battery > The lithium-air battery, Li-air for short, is a metal-air battery chemistry > that uses oxidation of lithium at the anode and reduction of oxygen at the > cathode to induce ... > > > > > For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: > http://evdl.org/evln/ > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Prof-Clare-Grey-defending-her-LiO2-fluffy-carbon-battery-paper-tp4681973.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -- Sean Korb [email protected] http://www.spkorb.org '65,'68 Mustangs,'68 Cougar,'78 R100/7,'60 Metro,'59 A35,'71 Pantera #1382 "The more you drive, the less intelligent you get" --Miller "Computers are useless. 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