Rationally Design a Sulfur Cathode with Solid‐Phase Conversion Mechanism for High Cycle‐Stable Li–S Batteries. Issue 14 (19th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: He, Bin; Rao, Zhixiang; Cheng, Zexiao; Liu, Dongdong; He, Danqi; Chen, Jie; Miao, Ziyun; Yuan, Lixia; Li, Zhen; Huang, Yunhui
• Is Part Of: Advanced energy materials. Volume 11:Issue 14(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-02-19
• Subjects: carbonate‐based electrolytes -- high sulfur content -- Li–S batteries -- secondary particle -- solid‐phase conversion mechanism; Energy harvesting -- Materials -- Periodicals; Energy conversion -- Materials -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Materials -- Periodicals; Photovoltaics -- Periodicals; Fuel cells -- Periodicals; Thermoelectric materials -- Periodicals; 621.31
• DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202003690
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1614-6832

Abstract

Abstract: Solid–solid reactions are very effective for solving the main challenges of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, such as the shuttle effect of polysulfides and the high dependence of electrolyte consumption. However, the low sulfur content and sluggish redox kinetics of such cathodes dramatically limit the practical energy density of Li–S batteries. Here a rationally designed hierarchical cathode to simultaneously solve above‐mentioned challenges is reported. With nanoscale sulfur as the core, selenium‐doped sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (PAN/S7 Se) as the shell and micron‐scale secondary particle morphology, the proposed cathode realizes excellent solid–solid reaction kinetics in a commercial carbonate electrolyte under high active species loading and a relatively low electrolyte/sulfur ratio. Such an approach provides a promising solution toward practical lithium sulfur batteries. Abstract : A hierarchical S@PAN/S7 Se cathode with nanoscale sulfur as a core, selenium‐doped sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (PAN/S7 Se) as a shell, and micron‐scale secondary particle structure is rationally designed for Li–S batteries. The proposed S@PAN/S7 Se cathode with high sulfur content can operate via a solid‐state process in carbonate‐based electrolytes, delivering excellent C‐rate properties, extremely stable cycle life, negligible self‐discharge rates, and high‐temperature performance.