Porous carbon nanotubes improved sulfur composite cathode for lithium-sulfur battery

Porous multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PCNTs) with multiple mesopores structure are synthesized through activation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by potassium hydroxide. The potassium hydroxide activation process results in a significantly enhanced specific surface area with numerous small pores. The as-obtained PCNTs are employed as the conductive matrix for sulfur in the sulfur cathode. Compared with the composite sulfur cathode based on the original MWCNTs, the sulfur-PCNTs cathode shows a significantly improved cycle performance and columbic efficiency. The reversible capacity is 530 mAh?g^?1 and columbic efficiency is 90 % after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA?g^?1. The improvement in the electrochemical performance for S-PCNT is mainly attributed to the enlarged surface area and the porous structure of the unique mesopores carbon nanotube host, which cannot only facilitate transport of electrons and Li⁺ ions, but also trap polysulfides, retard the shuttle effect during charge/discharge process.     

CNTs@S composite as cathode for all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries with ultralong cycle life

The main challenges in development of traditional liquid lithium-sulfur batteries are the shuttle effect at the cathode caused by the polysulfide and the safety concern at the Li metal anode arose from the dendrite formation. All-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries have been proposed to solve the shuttle effect and prevent short circuits. However, solid-solid contacts between the electrodes and the electrolyte increase the interface resistance and stress/strain, which could result in the limited electrochemical performances.In this work, the cathode of all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries is prepared by depositing sulfur on the surface of the carbon nanotubes(CNTs@S) and further mixing with Li_(10) Ge P_2 S_(12) electrolyte and acetylene black agents. At 60 °C, CNTs@S electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performance, delivering the reversible discharge capacities of 1193.3, 959.5, 813.1, 569.6 and 395.5 m Ah g~(-1) at the rate of 0.1, 0.5,1, 2 and 5 C, respectively. Moreover, the CNTs@S is able to demonstrate superior high-rate capability of660.3 m Ah g~(-1) and cycling stability of 400 cycles at a high rate of 1.0 C. Such uniform distribution of the CNTs, S and Li_(10) Ge P_2 S_(12) electrolyte increase the electronic and ionic conductivity between the cathode and the electrolyte hence improves the rate performance and capacity retention.     

CeO2/Ce2S3 modified carbon nanotubes as efficient cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Lithium-sulfur battery as a new generation of energy storage devices has excellent development potential. In this paper, CeO2/Ce2S3 heterostructure was...     

The study of carbon nanotubes as conductive additives of cathode in lithium ion batteries

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), including multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) and single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs), are employed as conductive additives in lithium ion batteries. The effects of MWCNTs’ carbon precursors, diameter, and weight fraction on the electrochemical behavior of MWCNTs/LiCoO₂ composite cathode are investigated. Meanwhile, a comparison is made between SWCNTs /LiCoO₂ and MWCNTs/LiCoO₂. Among the three kinds of carbon precursors: CH₄, natural gas, and C₂H₂, MWCNTs prepared from CH₄ are very fit for acting as conductive additives due to their better crystallinity and lower electrical resistance. MWCNTs with smaller diameter favor improving the electrochemical behavior of MWCNTs/LiCoO₂ composite cathode at higher charge/discharge rate owing to their advantage in primary particle number in unit mass. To make full use of LiCoO₂ at higher rate, it is necessary to add at least 5 wt.% of MWCNTs with a diameter 10~30 nm. However, SWCNTs are not expected to be added into LiCoO₂ composite cathode since they tend to form bundles.     

Hybrid cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries

This review demonstrates the approaches to fabricate hybrid cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries. This short review does not claim to cover all recently published data; instead, an effort is aimed to show how the critical issues on carbon – sulfur hybrid are addressed based on selected articles in last couple of years. The influence of porous structure of carbon, the confinement effect of polysulfides in narrow micropores, and importance of hierarchical porosity are explained. Besides, the heteroatom doping on carbon in carbon–sulfur hybrids plays a vital role on improvement of bulk electronic conductivity of electrode. This review presents the twin polymerization strategy for direct preparation of nanoscale intermixed hybrid materials. Finally, the formation of sulfur containing copolymers by reacting sulfur melt with functional vinyl monomers are shown in this review with selected examples postulating the respective potential for future generation energy storage technology from the viewpoint of industrial applications.     

TiO2 embedded hydrothermally synthesized carbon composite as interlayer for lithium-sulfur batteries

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Lithium-sulfur battery chemistry is one of the best alternatives to meet the demand of future electric vehicles providing high theoretical capacity and...     

Graphene sheet-encased silica/sulfur composite cathode for improved cyclability of lithium-sulfur batteries

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The “shuttle effect” of polysulfides is a serious issue, resulting in a decrease in the life-cycle of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. To...     

Regulation of carbon distribution to construct high-sulfur-content cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S)battery is regarded as one of the most promising next-generation energy storage systems due to the ultra-high theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg^-1.To address the insulation nature of sulfur,nanocarbon composition is essential to afford acceptable cycling capacity but inevitably sacrifices the actual energy density under working conditions.Therefore,rational structural design of the carbon/sulfur composite cathode is of great significance to realize satisfactory electrochemical performances with limited carbon content.Herein,the cathode carbon distribution is rationally regulated to construct high-sulfur-content and high-performance Li-S batteries.Concretely,a double-layer carbon(DLC)cathode is prepared by fabricating a surface carbon layer on the carbon/sulfur composite.The surface carbon layer not only provides more electrochemically active surfaces,but also blocks the polysulfide shuttle.Consequently,the DLC configuration with an increased sulfur content by nearly 10 wt%renders an initial areal capacity of 3.40 mAh cm^-2 and capacity retention of 83.8%during 50 cycles,which is about two times than that of the low-sulfur-content cathode.The strategy of carbon distribution regulation affords an effective pathway to construct advanced high-sulfur-content cathodes for practical high-energy-density 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.     

High capacity vertical aligned carbon nanotube/sulfur composite cathodes for lithium-sulfur batteries

Binder free vertical aligned (VA) CNT/sulfur composite electrodes with high sulfur loadings up to 70 wt% were synthesized delivering discharge capacities higher than 800 mAh g(-1) of the total composite electrode mass.     

High performance lithium-sulfur batteries by facilely coating a conductive carbon nanotube or graphene layer

A dual-layer cathode electrode is constituted by facilely coating a conductive carbon nanotube or graphene layer on the pristine sulfur cathode electrode. The conductive layer can effectively improve the conductivity and suppress the polysulfide diffusion, giving rise to an enhanced electrochemical performance for Li-S batteries.     

Electrochemical nanostructured biosensors: carbon nanotubes versus conductive and semi-conductive nanoparticles

The aim of this work was to demonstrate that various types of nanostructures provide different gains in terms of sensitivity or detection limit albeit providing the same gain in terms of increased area. Commercial screen printed electrodes (SPEs) were functionalized with 100 µg of bismuth oxide nanoparticles (Bi₂O₃ NPs), 13.5 µg of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), and 4.8 µg of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to sense hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The amount of nanomaterials to deposit was calculated using specific surface area (SSA) in order to equalize the additional electroactive surface area. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments revealed oxidation peaks of Bi₂O₃ NPs, Au NPs, and MWCNTs based electrodes at (790 ± 1) mV, (386 ± 1) mV, and (589 ± 1) mV, respectively, and sensitivities evaluated by chronoamperometry (CA) were (74 ± 12) µA mM^?1 cm^?2, (129 ± 15) ±A mM^?1 cm^?2, and (54 ± 2) ±A mM^?1 cm^?2, respectively. Electrodes functionalized with Au NPs showed better sensing performance and lower redox potential (oxidative peak position) compared with the other two types of nanostructured SPEs. Interestingly, the average size of the tested Au NPs was 4 nm, under the limit of 10 nm where the quantum effects are dominant. The limit of detection (LOD) was (11.1 ± 2.8) ±M, (8.0 ± 2.4) ±M, and (3.4 ± 0.1) ±M for Bi₂O₃ NPs, Au NPs, and for MWCNTs based electrodes, respectively.     

Loading Fe3O4 nanoparticles on paper-derived carbon scaffold toward advanced lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries(LSBs) are regarded as a competitive next-generation energy storage device.However, their practical performance is seriously restricted due to the undesired polysulfides shuttling.Herein, a multifunctional interlayer composed of paper-derived carbon(PC) scaffold, Fe3O4 nanoparticles,graphene, and graphite sheets is designed for applications in LSBs. The porous PC skeleton formed by the interweaving long-fibers not only facilitates fast transfer of Li ions and electrons but also provides a physical barrier for the polysulfide shuttling. The secondary Fe3O4@graphene component can reduce the polarization, boost the attachment of polysulfides, and promote the charging-discharging kinetics. The outer graphitic sheets layers benefit the interfacial electrochemistry and the utilization of S-containing species.The efficient obstruction of polysulfides diffusion is further witnessed via in situ ultraviolet-visible characterization and first-principles simulations. When 73% sulfur/commercial acetylene black is used as the cathode, the cell exhibits excellent capacity retention with high capacities at 0.5 C for 1000 cycles and even up to 10 C for 500 cycles, an ultrahigh rate capability up to 10 C(478 m Ah g-1), and a high arealsulfur loading of 8.05 mg cm-2. The strategy paves the way for developing multifunctional composites for LSBs with superior performance.     

A novel network composite cathode of LiFePO4/multiwalled carbon nanotubes with high rate capability for lithium ion batteries

A novel network composite cathode was prepared by mixing LiFePO₄ particles with multiwalled carbon nanotubes for high rate capability. LiFePO₄ particles were connected by multiwalled carbon nanotubes to form a three-dimensional network wiring. The web structure can improve electron transport and electrochemical activity effectively. The initial discharge capacity was improved to be 155 mA h/g at C/10 rate (0.05 mA/cm²) and 146 mA h/g at 1C rate. The comparative investigation on MWCNTs and acetylene black as a conducting additive in LiFePO₄ proved that MWCNTs addition was an effective way to increase rate capability and cycle efficiency.     

Well-dispersed sulfur anchored on interconnected polypyrrole nanofiber network as high performance cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries

Preparation of novel sulfur/polypyrrole (S/PPy) composite consisting well-dispersed sulfur particles anchored on interconnected PPy nanowire network was demonstrated. In such hybrid structure, the as-prepared PPy clearly displays a three-dimensionally cross-linked and hierarchical porous structure, which was utilized in the composite cathode as a conductive network trapping soluble polysulfide intermediates and enhancing the overall electrochemical performance of the system. Benefiting from this unique structure, the S/PPy composite demonstrated excellent cycling stability, resulting in a discharge capacity of 931 mAh g⁻¹ at the second cycle and retained about 54% of this value over 100 cycles at 0.1 C. Furthermore, the S/PPy composite cathode exhibits a good rate capability with a discharge capacity of 584 mAh g⁻¹ at 1  C.