Unfortunately, lithium-sulfur batteries don’t hold a charge or withstand recharging worth a hoot. Increased safety, and the fact that sulfur is abundant and cheap, means lithium-sulfur power packs would be much less expensive to produce than lithium-ion batteries. They’re also less prone to overheating, which means they don’t need the complex control systems that keep lithium-ion batteries from exhibiting one of their more inconvenient tendencies - erupting in flame when overcharged or overtaxed. These batteries pack two to three times more energy than their lithium-ion counterparts. “USC has been very good because I have good students, I have good support from the faculty and it’s a very collaborative environment,” he said.Īmong other pursuits, Narayan is working on a way to bring lithium- sulfur batteries into widespread use. He came to USC Dornsife in 2010 to expand his work on batteries into new areas. Narayan joined JPL in 1992 and spent nearly 20 years advancing various types of batteries and fuel cells, including the lithium-ion battery technology used on the Mars Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was hot on this trend, since lithium could provide a great deal of power while adding little weight to a spacecraft (a dream come true for sci-fi enthusiasts and scientists alike). But Sri Narayan, professor of chemistry at USC Dornsife and co-director of the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, wants to do better.įirst inspired to pursue chemistry by a high school teacher, Narayan went on to attend graduate school in India, where he began studying power cells based on magnesium, an element that is readily available from sea water.Īfter earning his Ph.D., he wanted to continue his work with batteries, but by then lithium-based technology was emerging. Similarly, hybrid and electric vehicles use much larger versions to transport their occupants to far-off destinations - or at least across town.Ĭurrently, lithium-ion batteries represent the most energy-dense batteries available for practical use, storing hours of electricity for most devices in a relatively compact, lightweight size. Our “communicators” - cell phones, tablets, laptop computers and similar devices - rely on the “solid power” in these batteries to keep us connected. The closest we come to these powerhouses in reality are rechargeable batteries. What else could make their starships fly, their laser guns blast and their communicators buzz? Hamilton and other sci-fi writers throughout the life of the genre have fantasized about similar compact energy sources. Trillions of units of power … compressed thus into an inch-square cube.” In Edmond Hamilton’s 1940 novella Revolt On The Tenth World, the science fiction author describes “solid power … the most super-valuable substance in the Solar System.” Solid power is “compressed energy ‘frozen’ by temporary transformation into artificial atoms. USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies Huntington-USC Institute on California and The West Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American LifeĬenter for Islamic Thought, Culture and PracticeĬenter for Latinx and Latin American Studies
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