We have covered lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries quite often here at InsideEVs, but never one like this. These batteries use solid lithium as anodes and liquid organic electrolytes, but what if the electrolyte was solid and the lithium was liquid? That is what researchers from the Zhengzhou University, Tsinghua University, and Stanford University have proposed.These batteries, using sulfur or selenium, avoid the growth of lithium dendrites and have high Coulombic efficiency and cycling stability, according to the researchers. All due to the way they work.

The batteries operate at temperatures above lithium melting point, at 180.5ºC (356.9ºF. We'd bet on something around 200ºC (392ºF). This liquid lithium is then stored inside the solid electrolyte, a ceramic tube made of LLZTO (Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12).