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.     

用于锂硫电池高效硫载体的Co-N-C@KB复合材料的规模化制备策略

硫正极较差的性能严重阻碍了锂硫电池的商业化进程,这些因素包括较低的导电能力以及在促进多硫化物转化方面较差的催化活性.我们开发了一种基于配体调控合成和低温热解的规模化策略来制备高效的正极复合材料(Co-N-C@KB),这种材料由富含Co-N-C活性位点的科琴黑(KB)组成.原子级分散的Co-N-C活性位点被证明有利于多硫...     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Beyond the Polysulfide Shuttle and Lithium Dendrite Formation: Addressing the Sluggish Sulfur Redox Kinetics for Practical High-Energy Li-S Batteries

Electrolyte modulation simultaneously suppresses polysulfide the shuttle effect and lithium dendrite formation of lithium–sulfur (Li-S) batteries. However, the sluggish S redox kinetics, especially under high S loading and lean electrolyte operation, has been ignored, which dramatically limits the cycle life and energy density of practical Li-S pouch cells. Herein, we demonstrate that a rational combination of selenium doping, core–shell hollow host structure, and fluorinated ether electrolytes enables ultrastable Li stripping/plating and essentially no polysulfide shuttle as well as fast redox kinetics. Thus, high areal capacity (>4 mAh cm⁻²) with excellent cycle stability and Coulombic efficiency were both demonstrated in Li metal anode and thick S cathode (4.5 mg cm⁻²) with a low electrolyte/sulfur ratio (10 μL mg⁻¹). This research further demonstrates a durable Li-Se/S pouch cell with high specific capacity, validating the potential practical applications.     

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.     

Self-crystallized Interlayer Integrating Polysulfide-adsorbed TiO2/TiO and Highly-electron-conductive TiO for High-stability Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Low-cost lithium sulfur(Li-S)batteries afford preeminent prospect as a next-generation high-energy storage device by virtue of great theoretical capacity.Nevertheless,their applications are restricted by some challenging technical barriers,such as weak cycling stability and low poor-conductivity sulfur loading originated in notorious shuttling effect of polysulfide intermediates.Herein,free of any complicated compositing process,we design an interlayer of carbon fiber paper supported TiO2/TiO to impede the shuttle effect and enhance the electrical conductivity via physical isolation and chemical adsorption.Such a self-crystallized homogeneous interlayer,where TiO2/TiO enables absorbing lithium polysulfides(LiPSs)and TiO plays a key role of high-electron-conductivity exhibited ultrahigh capacities(1000 mA·h/g at 0.5 C and 900 mA·h/g at 1 C)and outstanding capacity retention rate(97%)after 100 cycles.Thus,our design provides a simple route to suppress the shuttle effect via self-derived evolution Li-S batteries.     

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.     

An Aligned and Laminated Nanostructured Carbon Hybrid Cathode for High‐Performance Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

An aligned and laminated sulfur‐absorbed mesoporous carbon/carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid cathode has been developed for lithium–sulfur batteries with high performance. The mesoporous carbon acts as sulfur host and suppresses the diffusion of polysulfide, while the CNT network anchors the sulfur‐absorbed mesoporous carbon particles, providing pathways for rapid electron transport, alleviating polysulfide migration and enabling a high flexibility. The resulting lithium–sulfur battery delivers a high capacity of 1226 mAh g⁻¹ and achieves a capacity retention of 75 % after 100 cycles at 0.1 C. Moreover, a high capacity of nearly 900 mAh g⁻¹ is obtained for 20 mg cm⁻², which is the highest sulfur load to the best of our knowledge. More importantly, the aligned and laminated hybrid cathode endows the battery with high flexibility and its electrochemical performances are well maintained under bending and after being folded for 500 times.     

氧缺位结构介孔二氧化钛/聚乙烯复合隔膜在锂硫电池中的应用

采用两步溶液法合成了一种具有高度氧缺位的黑色介孔二氧化钛, 并将其涂覆在隔膜表面作为锂硫电池复合隔膜, 研究了其在锂硫电池中的电化学性能. 结果表明, 氧缺位的黑色介孔二氧化钛材料不仅展现出良好的导电性, 还能加强对多硫化物的物理和化学吸附能力, 从而显著提高锂硫电池的放电比容量(0.1C倍率下首次放电比容量为1257 mA·h/g)和循环性能(循环100次后放电比容量为821 mA·h/g).     

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.     

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.     

Three‐Dimensional Hierarchical Constructs of MOF‐on‐Reduced Graphene Oxide for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

A three‐dimensional (3D) hierarchical MOF‐on‐reduced graphene oxide (MOF‐on‐rGO) compartment was successfully synthesized through an in situ reduced and combined process. The unique properties of the MOF‐on‐rGO compartment combining the polarity and porous features of MOFs with the high conductivity of rGO make it an ideal candidate as a sulfur host in lithium–sulfur (Li‐S) batteries. A high initial discharge capacity of 1250 mAh g^?1 at a current density of 0.1 C (1.0 C=1675 mAh g^?1) was reached using the MOF‐on‐rGO based electrode. At the rate of 1.0 C, a high specific capacity of 601 mAh g^?1 was still maintained after 400 discharge–charge cycles, which could be ascribed to the synergistic effect between MOFs and rGO. Both the hierarchical structures of rGO and the polar pore environment of MOF retard the diffusion and migration of soluble polysulfide, contributing to a stable cycling performance. Moreover, the spongy‐layered rGO can buffer the volume expansion and contraction changes, thus supplying stable structures for Li‐S 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.     

Ferrocene‐Promoted Long‐Cycle Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Confining lithium polysulfide intermediates is one of the most effective ways to alleviate the capacity fade of sulfur‐cathode materials in lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. To develop long‐cycle Li–S batteries, there is an urgent need for material structures with effective polysulfide binding capability and well‐defined surface sites; thereby improving cycling stability and allowing study of molecular‐level interactions. This challenge was addressed by introducing an organometallic molecular compound, ferrocene, as a new polysulfide‐confining agent. With ferrocene molecules covalently anchored on graphene oxide, sulfur electrode materials with capacity decay as low as 0.014 % per cycle were realized, among the best of cycling stabilities reported to date. With combined spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations, it was determined that effective polysulfide binding originates from favorable cation–π interactions between Li⁺ of lithium polysulfides and the negatively charged cyclopentadienyl ligands of ferrocene.     

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.     

锂硫电池正极材料的制备及工艺优化

锂硫电池具有能量密度高、价格低等优势,有希望应用于下一代储能领域. 但锂硫电池仍然存在一些问题,如多硫化物穿梭效应、缺乏有效的锂硫电池规模制备工艺等. 为了解决这些问题,作者以不同商用碳材料（乙炔黑、科琴黑与碳纳米管）和单质硫复合作为正极材料,探究正极制备工艺对多硫化物穿梭效应抑制效果及锂硫电池性能的影响. 通过研究,作者得出以下结论：科琴黑作为单质硫的载体,与单质硫球磨8 h后,匹配粘结剂聚乙烯吡咯烷酮（PVP）制备的正极浆料可实现在涂布和辊压后极片的厚度达到500 μm、压实密度达到991.65 mg·cm ^-3. 作者将最终得到的正极极片应用于高硫载量锂硫软包电池,电池首圈放电容量为137.4 mA·h,经过10圈循环后,放电容量为115.5 mA·h,表现出优异的电化学性能. 该碳硫复合正极材料制备工艺有望在锂硫电池的宏量制备中获得应用.     

Mesoporous carbon/sulfur composite with N-doping and tunable pore size for high-performance Li-S batteries

Mesoporous carbons (MCs) were used as the matrixes to load sulfur for lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries, and pore sizes were tuned by heat treatment at different high temperatures. The cathode material shows the highest discharge capacity of 1158.2 mAh g^?1 at the pore size of 4.1 nm among as-prepared nitrogen-free materials with different sizes. Meanwhile, the nitrogen doping of mesoporous carbon helps to inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide species via an enhanced surface adsorption. The carbon/sulfur containing N (4.56%) shows a high initial discharge capacity of 1315.8 mAh g^?1 and retains about 939 mAh g^?1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C. The improved electrochemical performance is ascribed to the proper pore size, surface chemical property, and conductivity of the N-doped carbon material.     

锂-硫二次电池界面反应的特殊性与对策分析

锂-硫电池是在现有锂离子电池基础上最可能实现储能密度大幅提升的实用二次电池体系. 然而,这一电池体系的电化学利用率与循环稳定性仍然难以满足应用要求. 造成锂-硫电池性能不稳定的原因在于硫正极和锂负极的材料结构和反应环境始终处于变化之中,如在充放电过程中,硫-碳反应界面的电化学阻塞、中间产物的溶解流失、正负极之间的穿梭效应等副反应导致正极与负极均难形成稳定的电化学反应界面。针对这些特殊问题,本文简要分析了影响能量利用率和循环稳定性的化学与电化学机制,并提出了构建稳定锂负极与高效硫正极的若干可行性技术.