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Title: Hybrid Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with an Advanced Gel Cathode and Stabilized Lithium-Metal Anode

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials
 [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Materials Science and Engineering Program and Texas Materials Institute
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The insulating nature of sulfur, polysulfide shuttle effect, and lithium metal deterioration cause a decrease in practical energy density and fast capacity fade in lithium-sulfur batteries. Here, we present an integrated strategy for the development of hybrid Li-S batteries based on a gel sulfur cathode, a solid electrolyte, and a protective anolyte composed of highly-concentrated salt electrolyte containing mixed additives. The dense solid electrolyte completely blocks polysulfide diffusion, and also makes it possible to investigate the cathode and anode independently. This gel cathode effectively traps the polysulfide active material while maintaining a low electrolyte to sulfur ratio (E/S) of 5.2 mL/g. The anolyte effectively protects the Li metal and suppresses the consumption of liquid electrolyte, enabling stable long-term cycling for over 700 hours in Li symmetric cells. This advanced design can simultaneously suppress the polysulfide shuttle, protect Li metal, and reduce the liquid electrolyte usage. The assembled hybrid batteries exhibit remarkably stable cycling performance over 300 cycles with high capacity. Finally, surface-sensitive techniques were carried out to directly visualize and to probe the interphase formed on the surface of the LAGP pellet, which may help stabilize the solid-liquid interface.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0005397
OSTI ID:
1598233
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1464429
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 23; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 47 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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  • Ottakam Thotiyl, Muhammed M.; Freunberger, Stefan A.; Peng, Zhangquan
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 135, Issue 1, p. 494-500 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja310258x
journal December 2012
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Cited By (5)

Pristine or Highly Defective? Understanding the Role of Graphene Structure for Stable Lithium Metal Plating journal November 2018
Metal Sulfide‐Decorated Carbon Sponge as a Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst and Absorbant for Polysulfide in High‐Loading Li 2 S Batteries journal April 2019
Defect Control in the Synthesis of 2 D MoS 2 Nanosheets: Polysulfide Trapping in Composite Sulfur Cathodes for Li–S Batteries journal March 2020
High-performance all-solid-state batteries enabled by salt bonding to perovskite in poly(ethylene oxide) journal August 2019
Graphitic Mesoporous Carbon/Mn 7 C 3 as Polysulfide Host for High Rate Li-S Batteries journal January 2019

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
25 ENERGY STORAGE
gel cathodes
lithium protection
lithium‐sulfur batteries
polysulfide trapping