Enhanced Adsorption of Polysulfides on Carbon Nanotubes/Boron Nitride Fibers for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are one of the most promising high-energy-density storage systems. However, serious capacity attenuation and poor cycling stability induced by the shuttle effect of polysulfide intermediates can impede the practical application of Li-S batteries. Herein we report a novel sulfur cathode by intertwining multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and porous boron nitride fibers (BNFs) for the subsequent loading of sulfur. This structural design enables trapping of active sulfur and serves to localize the soluble polysulfide within the cathode region, leading to low active material loss. Compared with CNTs/S, CNTs/BNFs/S cathodes deliver a high initial capacity of 1222 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C. Upon increasing the current density to 4 C, the cell retained a capacity of 482 mAh g⁻¹ after 500 cycles with a capacity decay of only 0.044 % per cycle. The design of CNTs/BNFs/S gives new insight on how to optimize cathodes for Li-S batteries.     

Bidirectionally polarizing surface chemistry of heteroatom-doped carbon matrix towards fast and longevous lithium-sulfur batteries

Herein, a bidirectional polarization strategy is proposed for hosting efficient and durable lithium-sulfur battery (Li-S) electrochemistry. By co-doping electronegative N and electropositive B in graphene matrix (BNrGO), the bidirectional electron redistribution enables a higher polysulfide affinity over its mono-doped counterparts, contributing to strong sulfur immobilization and fast conversion kinetics. As a result, BNrGO as the cathode host matrix realizes excellent cycling stability over 1000 cycles with a minimum capacity fading of 0.027% per cycle, and superb rate capability up to 10 C. Meanwhile, decent areal capacity (6.46 mAh/cm²) and cyclability (300 cycles) are also achievable under high sulfur loading and limited electrolyte. This work provides instructive insights into the interaction between doping engineering and sulfur electrochemistry for pursuing superior Li-S batteries.     

In-situ polymerized cross-linked binder for cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries

Volume expansion and polysulfide shuttle effect are the main barriers for the commercialization of lithium-sulfur(Li-S) battery.In this work,we in-situ polymerized a cross-linked binder in sulfur cathode to solve the aforementioned problems using a facile method under mild conditions.Polycarbonate diol(PCDL),triethanolamine(TEA) and hexamethylene diisocyanate(HDI) were chosen as precursors to prepare the cross-linked binder.The in-situ polymerized binder(PTH) builds a strong network in sulfur cathode,which could restrain the volume expansion of sulfu r.Moreover,by adopting functional groups of oxygen atoms and nitrogen atoms,the binder could effectively facilitate transportation of Li-ion and adsorb polysulfide chemically.The Li-S battery with bare sulfur and carbon/sulfur composite cathodes and cross-linked PTH binder displays much better electrochemical performance than that of the battery with PVDF.The PTH-bare S cathode with a mass loading of 5.97 mg/cm^2 could deliver a capacity of 733.3 mAh/g at 0.2 C,and remained 585.5 mAh/g after 100 cycles.This in-situ polymerized binder is proved to be quite effective on restraining the volume expansion and suppressing polysulfide shuttle effect,then improving the electrochemical performance of Li-S battery.     

Spinel-type bimetal sulfides derived from Prussian blue analogues as efficient polysulfides mediators for lithium−sulfur batteries

More and more attentions have been attracted by lithium-sulfur batteries (Li-S), owing to the high energy density for the increasingly advanced energy storage system. While the poor cycling stability, due to the inherent polysulfide shuttle, seriously hampered their practical application. Recently, some polar hosts, like single metal oxides and sulfides, have been employed as hosts to interact with polysulfide intermediates. However, due to the inherent poor electrical conductivity of these polar hosts, a relatively low specific capacity is obtained. Herein, a spinel-type bimetal sulfide NiCo₂S₄ through a Prussian blue analogue derived methodology is reported as the novel host of polysulfide, which enables high-performance sulfur cathode with high Coulombic efficiency and low capacity decay. Notably, the Li-S battery with NiCo₂S₄-S composites cathode still maintains a capacity of 667 mAh/g at 0.5 C after 300 cycles, and 399 mAh/g at 1 C after 300 cycles. Even after 300 cycles at the current density of 0.5 C, the capacity decays by 0.138% per cycle at high sulfur loading about 3 mg/cm². And the capacity decays by 0.026% per cycle after 1000 cycles, when the rate is 1 C. More importantly, the cathode of NiCo₂S₄-S composite shows the outstanding discharge capacity, owing to its good conduction, high catalytic ability and the strong confinement of polysulfides.     

Dual Dopamine Derived Polydopamine Coated N-Doped Porous Carbon Spheres as a Sulfur Host for High-Performance Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are considered to be one of the most promising energy storage systems owing to their high energy density and low cost. However, their wide application is still limited by the rapid capacity fading. Herein, polydopamine (PDA)-coated N-doped hierarchical porous carbon spheres (NPC@PDA) are reported as sulfur hosts for high-performance Li-S batteries. The NPC core with abundant and interconnected pores provides fast electron/ion transport pathways and strong trapping ability towards lithium polysulfide intermediates. The PDA shell could further suppress the loss of lithium polysulfide intermediates through polar–polar interactions. Benefiting from the dual function design, the NPC/S@PDA composite cathode exhibits an initial capacity of 1331 mAh g⁻¹ and remains at 720 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles at 0.5 C. At the pouch cell level with a high sulfur mass loading, the NPC/S@PDA composite cathode still exhibits a high capacity of 1062 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.4 mA cm⁻².     

Cobalt oxyhydroxide/graphene oxide nanocomposite for amelioration of electrochemical performance of lithium/sulfur batteries

Cobalt oxyhydroxide combination with graphene oxide (CoOOH@GO) as a novel conductive matrix is developed for high performance lithium/sulfur batteries. Enhancement retention of polysulfide species into matrix of cobalt oxyhydroxide anchored on graphene oxide flakes by strong chemical binding of carbon-sulfur is demonstrated. Sulfur incorporated in the sheet-like morphology of CoOOH@GO delivers high initial discharge specific capacity of 1190.85 mAh/g, which raises 260 mAh/g with respect to graphene oxide/sulfur (GO/S) as a cathode material. Furthermore, CoOOH@GO/S maintains the average coulombic efficiency of 96 % after 300 cycles at 1 C rate with capacity retention of about 61 %. Good current rate capability of CoOOH@GO/S cathode reveals that the resulting composite is open platform for electrolyte diffusion and fast ion transportation leading to the improved electrochemical performance of lithium/sulfur batteries.     

Trithiocyanuric acid derived g-C_3N_4 for anchoring the polysulfide in Li-S batteries application

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have great potential as an electrochemical energy storage system because of the high theoretical energy density and acceptable cost of financial and environment.However,the shuttle effect leads to severe capacity fading and low coulombic efficiency.Here,graphitic carbon nitride(g-C_3N_4) is designed and prepared via a feasible and simple method from trithiocyanuric acid (TTCA) to anchor the polysulfides and suppress the shuttle effect.The obtained g-C_3N_4 exhibits strong chemical interaction with polysulfides due to its high N-doping of 56.87 at%,which is beneficial to improve the cycling stability of Li-S batteries.Moreover,the novel porous framework and high specific surface area of g-C_3N_4 also provide fast ion transport and broad reaction interface of sulfur cathode,facilitating high capacity output and superior rate performance of Li-S batteries.As a result,Li-S batteries assembled with g-C_3N_4 can achieve high discharge capacity of 1200 mAh/g at 0.2 C and over 800 mAh/g is remained after 100 cycles with a coulombic efficiency more than 99.5%.When the C-rate rises to 5 C,the reversible capacity of Li-S batteries can still maintain at 607mAh/g.     

Porous carbon framework nested nickel foam as freestanding host for high energy lithium sulfur batteries

Constructing 3 D multifunctional conductive framework as stable sulfur cathode contributes to develop advanced lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries.Herein,a freestanding electrode with nickel foam framework and nitrogen doped porous carbon(PC) network is presented to encapsulate active sulfur for Li-S batteries.In such a mutually embedded architecture with high stability,the interconnected carbon network and nickel foam matrix can expedite ionic/electro nic tra nsport and sustain volume variations of sulfur.Furthermore,rationally designed porous structures provide sufficient internal space and large surface area for high active sulfur loading and polar polysulfides anchoring.Benefiting from the synergistic superiority,the Ni/PC-S cathode exhibits a high initial capacity of around 1200 mAh/g at 0.2 C,excelle nt rate perfo rmance,and high cycling stability with a low decay rate of 0.059% per cycle after 500 cycles.This work provides a useful strategy to exploit freestanding porous framework for diverse applications.     

Bimetal-organic frameworks derived Co/N-doped carbons for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have received extensive attention due to their high theoretical specific energy density. However, the utilization of sulfur is seriously reduced by the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides and the low conductivity of sulfur and lithium sulfide (Li₂S). Herein, we introduced bimetal-organic frameworks (Co/Zn-ZIF) derived cobalt and nitrogen-doped carbons (Co/N-C) into Li-S batteries through host design and separator modification. The Co/N-C in Li-S batteries effectively limits the shuttle effect through simultaneously serving as polysulfide traps and chemical catalyst. As a result, the Li-S batteries deliver a high reversible capacity of 1614.5 mAh/g and superior long-term cycling stability with a negligible capacity decay of only 0.04% per cycle after 1000 cycles. Furthermore, they have a high area capacity of 5.5 mAh/cm².     

PxSy nanoparticles encapsulated in graphene as highly reversible cathode for sodium ion batteries

Herein, phosphorus-mediated sulfur nanoparticles encapsulated in reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (P-SrGO-T) were successfully synthesized as the cathode for sodium ion battery by a ball milling and the following thermal treatment. A series of covalent bonds, such as P–S, C–S–C, C–O–P and C–S–P, are formed in this process, which are in favor of fixing the sulfur and suppressing the parasitic shuttle effect of polysulfide. Benefiting from the graphene sheets and these covalent bonds, a high reversible capacity of 637.4 mAh/g was achieved in P-SrGO-T after 100 cycles at the current density of 0.2 A/g. In addition, P-SrGO-T also delivers a high-rate capacity (330.7 mAh/g at 5 A/g) attributing to low charge transfer resistance and faster ion diffusion kinetic. This work pushes the progress forward in developing phosphosulfide cathode for sodium ion batteries.     

Reinforced polysulfide barrier by g-C_3N_4/CNT composite towards superior lithium-sulfur batteries

The notorious shuttle effect has long been obstructing lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries from yielding the expected high energy density and long lifespan.Herein,we develop a multifunctional polysulfide barrier reinforced by the graphitic carbon nitride/carbon nanotube(g-C_3 N_4/CNT) composite toward inhibited shuttling behavior and improved battery performance.The obtained g-C_3 N_4 delivers a unique spongelike architecture with massive ion transfer pathways and fully exposed active interfaces,while the abundant C-N heteroatomic structures impose strong chemical immobilization toward lithium polysulfides.Combined with the highly conductive agent,the g-C_3 N_4/CNT reinforced separator is endowed with great capability of confining and reutilizing the active sulfur within the cathode,thus contributing to an efficient and stable sulfur electrochemistry.Benefiting from these synergistic attributes,Li-S cells based on g-C_3 N_4/CNT separator exhibit an excellent cyclability with a minimum decay rate of 0.03% per cycle over 500 cycles and decent rate capability up to 2 C.Moreover,a high areal capacity of 7.69 mAh cm^-2can be achieved under a raised sulfur loading up to 10.1 mg cm^-2.demonstrating a facile and efficient pathway toward superior Li-S batteries.     

Solution-based Preparation of High Sulfur Content Sulfur/Graphene Cathode Material for Li-S Battery

Practical Li-sulfur batteries require the high sulfur loading cathode to meet the large-capacity power demand of electrical equipment.However,the sulfur content in cathode materials is usually unsatisfactory due to the excessive use of carbon for improving the conductivity.Traditional cathode fabrication strategies can hardly realize both high sulfur content and homogeneous sulfur distribution without aggregation.Herein,we designed a cathode material with ultrahigh sulfur content of 88%(mass fraction)by uniformly distributing the water dispersible sulfur nanoparticles on three-dimensionally conductive graphene framework.The water processable fabrication can maximize the homogeneous contact between sulfur nanoparticles and graphene,improving the utilization of the interconnected conductive surface.The obtained cathode material showed a capacity of 500 mA·h/g after 500 cycles at 2.0 A/g with an areal loading of 2 mg/cm2.This strategy provides possibility for the mass production of high-performance electrode materials for high-capacity Li-S battery.     

Sandwich-type functionalized graphene sheet-sulfur nanocomposite for rechargeable lithium batteries

A functionalized graphene sheet-sulfur (FGSS) nanocomposite was synthesized as the cathode material for lithium-sulfur batteries. The structure has a layer of functionalized graphene sheets/stacks (FGS) and a layer of sulfur nanoparticles creating a three-dimensional sandwich-type architecture. This unique FGSS nanoscale layered composite has a high loading (70 wt%) of active material (S), a high tap density of ～0.92 g cm(-3), and a reversible capacity of ～505 mAh g(-1) (～464 mAh cm(-3)) at a current density of 1680 mA g(-1) (1C). When coated with a thin layer of cation exchange Nafion film, the migration of dissolved polysulfide anions from the FGSS nanocomposite was effectively reduced, leading to a good cycling stability of 75% capacity retention over 100 cycles. This sandwich-structured composite conceptually provides a new strategy for designing electrodes in energy storage applications.     

PEO基聚合物电解质及其锂硫电池性能研究

锂硫电池由于具有高的理论比能量引起了广泛关注,然而传统液态锂硫电池由于多硫化物的“穿梭效应”以及安全问题而限制了其应用,全固态锂硫电池可显著提高电池安全性能并有望解决多硫化物的穿梭问题. 本文采用传统的溶液浇铸法制备了具有不同的[EO]/[Li⁺]的PEO-LiTFSI聚合物电解质,并将其应用于锂硫电池. 研究发现,虽然[EO]/[Li⁺] = 8的聚合物电解质具有更高的离子电导率,但是[EO]/[Li⁺] = 20的电解质与金属锂负极间的界面阻抗更低,界面稳定性更好. Li|PEO-LiTFSI([EO]/[Li⁺]=20)|Li对称电池在60 °C,电流密度为0.1 mA·cm^-2时可稳定循环超过300 h,而Li|PEO-LiTFSI ([EO]/[Li⁺]=8)|Li对称电池循环75 h就出现了短路现象. 基于PEO-LiTFSI([EO]/[Li⁺]=20)电解质的锂硫电池首圈放电比容量为934 mAh·g^-1,循环16圈后放电比容量为917 mAh·g^-1以上. 而基于PEO-LiTFSI ([EO]/[Li⁺]=8)电解质的锂硫电池,由于与锂负极较低的界面稳定性不能够正常循环,首圈就出现了严重过充现象.     

锂硫电池用高度环化硫化聚丙烯腈的制备

硫化聚丙烯腈因其不溶解机制和有效缓解锂硫电池中多硫化物“穿梭效应”,被认为是具有吸引力的锂硫电池正极候选材料。硫化聚丙烯腈的导电聚合物骨架具有优异的电子导电性,同时共轭主链能有效解决充放电过程中硫正极体积变化引起的正极结构坍塌问题。因硫化聚丙烯腈的固-固反应机理,有效克服了传统硫正极在醚类电解液中多硫化物溶解及穿梭效应的问题,具有高正极活性物质利用率、出色的循环稳定性和结构稳定性等优势。有许多研究工作致力于通过硫化促进剂来提高硫化聚丙烯腈的硫含量,进而提高材料的能量密度。其中,硫化聚丙烯腈主链的环化度与循环稳定性的关系引起了我们的关注。在该研究工作中,通过在硫化过程中引入无水硫酸铜和正乙基正苯基二硫代氨基甲酸锌(ZDB)合成了SPAN-C-V复合材料。无水硫酸铜和ZDB的共同引入降低了聚丙烯腈环化反应的起始温度,同时提高了产物SPAN-C-V内碳碳双键的含量,在提高了材料硫含量的同时提高了其环化度。以SPAN-C-V为正极活性物质所组装的锂硫电池展现出良好的循环稳定性和倍率性能：在0.2 C (1 C = 600 mAh·kg^-1)下循环100次后的可逆容量为601 mAh·kg^-1,容量保持率为93%。该工作对于硫化聚丙烯腈材料的发展提供了参考。     

A nanoporous nitrogen-doped graphene for high performance lithium sulfur batteries

A nanoporous N-doped reduced graphene oxide (p-N-rGO) was prepared through carbothermal reaction between graphene oxide and ammonium-containing oxometalates as sulfur host for Li-S batteries. The p-N-rGO sheets have abundant nanopores with diameters of 10-40 nm and the nitrogen content is 2.65 at%. When used as sulfur cathode, the obtained p-N-rGO/S composite has a high reversible capacity of 1110 mAh g^-1 at 1C rate and stable cycling performance with 781.8 mAh g^-1 retained after 110 cycles, much better than those of the rGO/S composite. The enhanced electrochemical performance is ascribed to the rational combination of nanopores and N-doping, which provide efficient contact and wetting with the electrolyte, accommodate volume expansion and immobilize polysulfides during cycling.     

Quaternized polymer binder for lithium-sulfur batteries:The effect of cation structure on battery performance

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are great candidates for energy storage systems,but need to overcome the issues of low sulfur utilization and polysulfide shuttling for use in large-scale commercial applications.Recently,quaternized polymers have received much attention for their polysulfide trapping properties due to electrostatic interaction.In this work,we report a series of polyarylether sulfone (PSF) binders with different cation structures including imidazolium (Im),triethylammonium (Tr),and morpholinium(Mo).The ability of the these quaternized binders and the conventional poly(vinylidene fluoride) or PVDF binder to capture polysulfide increases in the order of PVDF PSF-Mo PSF-TrPSF-Im.The delocalized charge on the imidazolium cation may promote the interaction between PSF-Im and polysulfide as indicated by an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study.The PSF-Im based cathodes showed the highest capacity retention (77%at 0.2 C after 100 cycles and 84%at 0.5 C after 120 cycles),and the best rate capability.This work demonstrates the importance of the cation structure in the design of efficient quaternized binders for high performance Li-S batteries.     

Cationic covalent organic framework via cycloaddition reactions as sulfur-loaded matrix for lithium-sulfur batteries

The postsynthetic modification provided effective approaches for the functionalization of imine covalent organic frameworks (COFs). To address the rapid decline of sulfur cathodes caused by the shuttle effect of soluble lithium polysulfide, cationic COFs (COF-PA-AI) used as sulfur-loaded matrix materials for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries was designed and prepared by cycloaddition. Benefiting from the ordered channels and the strong interaction between quaternary ammonium cations and polysulfide anions, COF-PA-AI/S displayed faster electrochemical kinetics, greater tolerance to high current shocks, and better rate performance as the cathode. Besides, the discharge capacity of COF-PA-AI/S also remained at 665.3 mA h/g after 200 cycles at 0.5 °C, which was higher than that of COF-Ph/S. This work not only demonstrated the possibility of a postfunctionalization method based on the intermediate COF-PA but also expanded the scope of application of the COFs and provided a new idea for the application of COF materials to the cathodes of Li-S batteries.     

Edge sulfurized graphene nanoplatelets via vacuum mechano-chemical reaction for lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium–sulfur batteries have great potential for high energy applications due to their high capacities,low cost and eco-friendliness. However, the particularly rapid capacity decay owing to the dissolution and diffusion of polysulfide intermediate into the electrolyte still hamper their practical applications.And the reported preparation procedures to sulfur based cathode materials are often complex, and hence are rather difficult to produce at large scale. Here, we report a simple mechano-chemical sulfurization methodology in vacuum environment applying ball-milling method combined both the chemical and physical interaction for the one-pot synthesis of edge-sulfurized grapheme nanoplatelets with 3D porous foam structure as cathode materials. The optimal sample of 70%S–Gn Ps-48 h(ball-milled 48 h) obtains 13.2 wt% sulfur that chemically bonded onto the edge of Gn Ps. And the assembled batteries exhibit high initial discharge capacities of 1089 mAh/g at 0.1 C and 950 mAh/g at 0.5 C, and retain a stable discharge capacity of 776 mAh/g after 250 cycles at 0.5 C with a high Coulombic efficiency of over 98%. The excellent performance is mainly attributed to the mechano-chemical interaction between sulfur and grapheme nanoplatelets. This definitely triggers the currently extensive research in lithium–sulfur battery area.     

锂硫电池硫正极粘结剂的比较研究

本文将三类粘结剂体系(PVDF、LA133和CMC+SBR)用于构筑锂硫电池硫正极,表征了不同粘结剂材料的官能团结构、结晶性能、热力学性质、电解液吸收性与粘结强度,考察了粘结剂种类对电极电化学性能的影响。结果表明,由1∶1质量比的CMC+SBR制作的硫电极吸液率低,剥离强度低,循环稳定性较差;无定形LA133支持高的粘结强度,维稳电极结构的能力强;PVDF因半结晶状态制约粘结效果,制作的电极吸液量高,但电荷转移阻抗小。基于PVDF制作的硫正极具有相对最优的电化学性能,其0.2C下循环100周后保留的可逆容量达722mAh·g~(-1),容量保持率达82.9%。