Molecular-Confinement of Polysulfide within Mesoscale Electrodes for the Practical Application of Lithium Sulfur Batteries
Abstract
Nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NPC) and multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) have been frequently studied to immobilize sulfur in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. However, neither NPC nor MWCNT itself can effectively confine the soluble polysufides if cathode thickness e.g. sulfur loading is increased. In this work, NPC was combined with MWCNT to construct an integrated host structure to immobilize sulfur at a relevant scale. The function of doped nitrogen atoms was revisited and found to effectively attract sulfur radicals generated during the electrochemical process. The addition of MWCNT facilitated the uniform coating of sulfur nanocomposites to a practically usable thickness and homogenized the distribution of sulfur particles in the pristine electrodes, while NPC provided sufficient pore volume to trap dissolved species. More importantly, the wetting issue, the critical challenge for thick sulfur cathodes, is also mitigated after the adoption of MWCNT, leading to a high areal capacity of ca. 2.5 mAh/cm2 with capacity retention of 81.6% over 100 cycles
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1184906
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-106980
47414; KC0208010
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal Name:
- Nano Energy, 13:267-274
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Nano Energy, 13:267-274
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- lithium sulfur battery; mesoscale electrode; nitrogen-doped carbon; sulfur cathode; Multi-walled Carbon nanotubes; thick electrode; Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Citation Formats
Chen, Junzheng, Wu, Dangxin, Walter, Eric D., Engelhard, Mark H., Bhattacharya, Priyanka, Pan, Huilin, Shao, Yuyan, Gao, Fei, Xiao, Jie, and Liu, Jun. Molecular-Confinement of Polysulfide within Mesoscale Electrodes for the Practical Application of Lithium Sulfur Batteries. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.01.031.
Chen, Junzheng, Wu, Dangxin, Walter, Eric D., Engelhard, Mark H., Bhattacharya, Priyanka, Pan, Huilin, Shao, Yuyan, Gao, Fei, Xiao, Jie, & Liu, Jun. Molecular-Confinement of Polysulfide within Mesoscale Electrodes for the Practical Application of Lithium Sulfur Batteries. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.01.031
Chen, Junzheng, Wu, Dangxin, Walter, Eric D., Engelhard, Mark H., Bhattacharya, Priyanka, Pan, Huilin, Shao, Yuyan, Gao, Fei, Xiao, Jie, and Liu, Jun. 2015.
"Molecular-Confinement of Polysulfide within Mesoscale Electrodes for the Practical Application of Lithium Sulfur Batteries". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.01.031.
@article{osti_1184906,
title = {Molecular-Confinement of Polysulfide within Mesoscale Electrodes for the Practical Application of Lithium Sulfur Batteries},
author = {Chen, Junzheng and Wu, Dangxin and Walter, Eric D. and Engelhard, Mark H. and Bhattacharya, Priyanka and Pan, Huilin and Shao, Yuyan and Gao, Fei and Xiao, Jie and Liu, Jun},
abstractNote = {Nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NPC) and multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) have been frequently studied to immobilize sulfur in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. However, neither NPC nor MWCNT itself can effectively confine the soluble polysufides if cathode thickness e.g. sulfur loading is increased. In this work, NPC was combined with MWCNT to construct an integrated host structure to immobilize sulfur at a relevant scale. The function of doped nitrogen atoms was revisited and found to effectively attract sulfur radicals generated during the electrochemical process. The addition of MWCNT facilitated the uniform coating of sulfur nanocomposites to a practically usable thickness and homogenized the distribution of sulfur particles in the pristine electrodes, while NPC provided sufficient pore volume to trap dissolved species. More importantly, the wetting issue, the critical challenge for thick sulfur cathodes, is also mitigated after the adoption of MWCNT, leading to a high areal capacity of ca. 2.5 mAh/cm2 with capacity retention of 81.6% over 100 cycles},
doi = {10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.01.031},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1184906},
journal = {Nano Energy, 13:267-274},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}