In the next generation of energy storage, lithium-sulfur (Li-s) has shown great promise, due to its long cycle life and high energy density. In an age where green energy is being championed, energy sources with high energy density are preferred. Significant progress has been made in improving the rate and specific capacity and cycle performance through breakthrough technologies. However, performance has been a big hurdle to get past when it comes to mass production. In their paper, Liu et al., discussed how to break down the technical barriers in lithium-sulfur systems using nanostructures metal oxides and sulfides (Liu et al.). The performance of Li-S systems based on performance and materials is affected by the adsorption ability of the polysulfides, the catalytic capacity of contributing to the conversions of lithium disulfides and lithium polysulfides, composite or intrinsic material conductivity, 3-dimensional morphologies, active site exposure, and the surface area determined by the nanostructures. Liu, et al., determined that nanostructures oxides and sulfates have an exceptional performance in rendering a composite cathode with a long life cycle and high sulfur utilization. They also found that material selection for Li-S batteries was a major hurdle. The problem can be solved by new characterization techniques the speed up the process and save on cost and time compared to trial and error techniques. In practical applications of Li-S energy systems, it is essential to provide holistic solutions. It is also essential to overcome problems like low volumetric energy densities, Sulphur loading amounts, and significant electrolyte sulfur to volume ratio.
Technologies that promise to revolutionize the world are the Internet of Things (IoT) and fifth-generation mobile communication (5G). IoT is a paradigm that promises to provide an all-inclusive networking environment through homogenous and seamless connections. It works through devices embedded with actuators and sensors that are enabled for wireless communication. From the authors’ study, it is clear that IoT is not a one size fits all based on its application. IoT can be applied differently depending on the use case due to different application requirements and service provisions. The increasing demand for machine-type communication has led to the development of different and diverse communication technologies that can allow IoT to thrive. Known cellular standards like 4G (LTE) work well with the existing mobile phones and networks. However, LTE does not adequately support low-data rate and low power devices like those used in IoT. To mitigate the shortcomings of 4G (LTE), IoT standards have been developed. 5G has also been explicitly designed to deal with the limitations of 4G standards and enable the use of IoT devices and networks in the future.
The authors were able to determine the IoT application requirements and related communication technologies. Additionally, through partnership projects, cellular-based low power solutions that enable and support the service requirements to Massive to Critical (MTC) IoT application were covered by the authors. 5G is the newest communication standard that is capable of meeting the needs of IoT devices. Based on the authors’ report, 5G will benefit IoT use cases by providing network functions that include CR, SDWSN, and NFV, which can potentially simplify the IoT network. 5G will also offer scalability and flexibility by connecting heterogeneous devices and guarantee connectivity for all IoT use cases in underserved and unserved regions. The main problem with their approach was the deployment of MTC IoT use cases with and efficient context-aware congestion regulating tool.