Functional Mesoporous Carbon‐Coated Separator for Long‐Life, High‐Energy Lithium–Sulfur Batteries. (24th July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Balach, Juan; Jaumann, Tony; Klose, Markus; Oswald, Steffen; Eckert, Jürgen; Giebeler, Lars
• Is Part Of: Advanced functional materials. Volume 25:Number 33(2015)
• Page Start: 5285
• Page End: 5291
• Publication Date: 2015-07-24
• Subjects: electrochemical performance -- lithium–sulfur batteries -- long cycle life -- mesoporous carbon -- separators; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201502251
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1616-301X

Abstract

Abstract : The lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery is regarded as the most promising rechargeable energy storage technology for the increasing applications of clean energy transportation systems due to its remarkable high theoretical energy density of 2.6 kWh kg −1, considerably outperforming today's lithium‐ion batteries. Additionally, the use of sulfur as active cathode material has the advantages of being inexpensive, environmentally benign, and naturally abundant. However, the insulating nature of sulfur, the fast capacity fading, and the short lifespan of Li–S batteries have been hampered their commercialization. In this paper, a functional mesoporous carbon‐coated separator is presented for improving the overall performance of Li–S batteries. A straightforward coating modification of the commercial polypropylene separator allows the integration of a conductive mesoporous carbon layer which offers a physical place to localize dissolved polysulfide intermediates and retain them as active material within the cathode side. Despite the use of a simple sulfur–carbon black mixture as cathode, the Li–S cell with a mesoporous carbon‐coated separator offers outstanding performance with an initial capacity of 1378 mAh g −1 at 0.2 C, and high reversible capacity of 723 mAh g −1, and degradation rate of only 0.081% per cycle, after 500 cycles at 0.5 C. Abstract : A functional mesoporous carbon‐coated separator is developed for lithium–sulfur batteries, which exhibit significant enhancements in their performance: high capacities, long cycle life, and low capacity fading at different current rates. These improvements highlight the importance of the rational design of modified separators with mesoporous carbon structures and this proof of concept will bring reliability for advanced high‐performance lithium–sulfur batteries.