New Patents

Doped Carbon-Sulfur Species Nanocomposite Cathode For LI-S Batteries

Donghai Wang, associate professor of mechanical engineering

Patent No. US 9,225,011

Lithium-sulfur batteries have attracted increasing attention as next-generation energy storage devices because of their high theoretical capacity (1672mA h g-1) and energy density (2600 Wh kg-1). Donghai Wang’s team developed a novel doped carbon-sulfur nanocomposite material as a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries. The doping can effectively promote chemical adsorption of both sulfur and lithium polysulfide intermediates, leading to a high coulombic efficiency of >99% and long-cycle life.

Synthesis of Micro-sized Interconnected SI-C Composites

Donghai Wang, associate professor of mechanical engineering

Patent No. US 9,269,949

This disruptive technology provides silicon materials as anodes to replace conventional carbon materials to make lithium-ion batteries last longer, charge faster and cost less. The materials are unique becuase, unlike most silicon anode materials in the market, these silicon materials are micro-sized as a whole, which is in line with currently used graphite, while at the same time having the nanoscale building blocks. These features make them drop-in materials for conventional battery manufacturing.