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Title: Polycation Binders: An Effective Approach toward Lithium Polysulfide Sequestration in Li–S Batteries

Journal Article · · ACS Energy Letters
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. East China Univ. of Science and Technology, Shanghai (People's Republic of China); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)
  3. East China Univ. of Science and Technology, Shanghai (People's Republic of China)
  4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Lithium polysulfide sequestration by polymeric binders in lithium-sulfur battery cathodes is investigated in this study. We prove polycations can effectively adsorb lithium polysulfides via Coulombic attraction between the positively charged backbone and the polysulfide anions. For the first time, we measure the simultaneous mass change of the sulfur cathodes with poly(diallyldimethylammonium triflate) (PDAT) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) binders during Iithiation-delithiation using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The EQCM results demonstrate significantly higher mass gain with PDAT binder under identical conditions, providing direct evidence that PDAT is a superior binder. The advantage of polycation binders is also proved by charge-discharge cycling combined with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As a result, with the PDAT binder and minimized electrolyte/sulfur weight ratio, we further demonstrate electrodes with high sulfur loading achieving 4.2 mAh cm-2 areal capacity.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1466403
Journal Information:
ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 2, Issue 11; ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 38 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Chelation-assisted formation of multi-yolk–shell Co 4 N@carbon nanoboxes for self-discharge-suppressed high-performance Li–SeS 2 batteries journal January 2019
Structural Design of Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: From Fundamental Research to Practical Application journal June 2018
Small Molecules Make a Big Difference: A Solvent-Controlled Strategy for Building Robust Conductive Network Structures in High-Capacity Electrode Composites journal April 2018
The Relationship between the Relative Solvating Power of Electrolytes and Shuttling Effect of Lithium Polysulfides in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries journal August 2018
Interfacially Polymerized Polyamide Interlayer onto Ozonated Carbon Nanotube Networks for Improved Stability of Sulfur Cathodes journal November 2019
A Review of Functional Binders in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries journal October 2018
Rational Design of Binders for Stable Li‐S and Na‐S Batteries journal December 2019
Housing Sulfur in Polymer Composite Frameworks for Li–S Batteries journal February 2019
Ionic Liquids and their Polymers in Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries journal January 2019
The Relationship between the Relative Solvating Power of Electrolytes and Shuttling Effect of Lithium Polysulfides in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries journal August 2018
A homemade self-healing material utilized as multi-functional binder for long-lifespan lithium–sulfur batteries journal February 2019
Trapping of Polysulfides with Sulfur‐Rich Poly Ionic Liquid Cathode Materials for Ultralong‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries journal January 2020
Current Status and Future Prospects of Metal–Sulfur Batteries journal May 2019