Molybdenum is expected to solve the existing problems of lithium-sulfur batteries and will affect the price of cobalt and nickel

As the demand for battery materials in electric vehicles shows no signs of cooling, it seems inevitable that the price of cobalt will rise to six figures.

Although cobalt prices have fallen this week, cobalt prices have risen 24% in 2018, and prices are more than four times the new lows set in early 2016. Batteries - mainly used in mobile phones - currently account for 55% of cobalt demand, but as global automakers move away from internal combustion engines, their size will rise dramatically.

Nickel and manganese and cobalt are key elements in the battery favored by most car manufacturers around the world, and were also hit by positive sentiment trading on Friday, at $13,315 per ton, a one-third higher than in the past 12 months. Although only 5% of the nickel production entered the battery, the EV power plant was less than 1%.

Concerns about supply are not only reflected in the price of battery materials, but also in the frenetic pace of researching new technologies to reduce load or find expensive raw material substitutes.

Earlier this year, US researchers touted a breakthrough in lithium-ion battery technology, which replaced iron with iron, and the current transaction price is only part of the price.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are now known as the future of the industry.

Lithium-sulfur batteries have been extensively studied and considered to be a natural evolution of lithium-ion batteries, but currently the technology for size and charge limitations due to sulfur instability is far from sufficient.

In a study published this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, US researchers said this week they found a way to address these shortcomings, creating cheaper, lighter, and safer (not on fire) Lithium-sulfur batteries, and more effectively maintain existing lithium-ion technology.

According to Phys, the org report, a research team led by Kyeongjae Cho, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Texas, found that molybdenum, which is mainly used as an alloy for the steel industry, solves lithium-sulfur batteries:

The material in which molybdenum is combined with two sulfur atoms to form a coating thickness-adjusting coating is thinner than the silk of the spider web.

It improves stability and compensates for the poor conductivity of sulfur, thereby increasing power density and making lithium-sulfur batteries more commercially viable.

Lithium-sulfur batteries use a solid lithium metal anode and a carbon cathode, and do not require nickel or cobalt:

"This is a long time that everyone is looking for. This is a breakthrough.

“We are taking this step and will completely stabilize the materials and bring them to practical business technology,” says Cho.

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