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Long-Life Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with a Bifunctional Cathode Substrate Configured with Boron Carbide Nanowires

Journal Article · · Advanced Materials
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin TX (United States); University of Texas at Austin
  2. The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin TX (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Developing high-energy-density lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries relies on the design of electrode substrates that can host a high sulfur loading and still attain high electrochemical utilization. Herein, a new bifunctional cathode substrate configured with boron-carbide nanowires in situ grown on carbon nanofibers (B4C@CNF) is established through a facile catalyst-assisted process. The B4C nanowires acting as chemical-anchoring centers provide strong polysulfide adsorptivity, as validated by experimental data and first-principle calculations. Meanwhile, the catalytic effect of B4C also accelerates the redox kinetics of polysulfide conversion, contributing to enhanced rate capability. As a result, a remarkable capacity retention of 80% after 500 cycles as well as stable cyclability at 4C rate is accomplished with the cells employing B4C@CNF as a cathode substrate for sulfur. Moreover, the B4C@CNF substrate enables the cathode to achieve both high sulfur content (70 wt%) and sulfur loading (10.3 mg cm-2), delivering a superb areal capacity of 9 mAh cm-2. In addition, Li–S pouch cells fabricated with the B4C@CNF substrate are able to host a high sulfur mass of 200 mg per cathode and deliver a high discharge capacity of 125 mAh after 50 cycles.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0007218
OSTI ID:
1487460
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1464282
Journal Information:
Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials Journal Issue: 39 Vol. 30; ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (13)

A review of biomass materials for advanced lithium–sulfur batteries journal January 2019
A Comprehensive Understanding of Lithium–Sulfur Battery Technology journal June 2019
Current Status and Future Prospects of Metal–Sulfur Batteries journal May 2019
A 3D Lithiophilic Mo 2 N‐Modified Carbon Nanofiber Architecture for Dendrite‐Free Lithium‐Metal Anodes in a Full Cell journal October 2019
Engineering Oxygen Vacancies in a Polysulfide‐Blocking Layer with Enhanced Catalytic Ability journal January 2020
A Conductive/Ferroelectric Hybrid Interlayer for Highly Improved Trapping of Polysulfides in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries journal September 2019
Activating Inert Metallic Compounds for High‐Rate Lithium–Sulfur Batteries Through In Situ Etching of Extrinsic Metal journal January 2019
Activating Inert Metallic Compounds for High‐Rate Lithium–Sulfur Batteries Through In Situ Etching of Extrinsic Metal journal March 2019
Polysulfide Trapping in Carbon Nanofiber Cloth/S Cathode with a Bifunctional Separator for High‐Performance Li–S Batteries journal May 2019
Expediting redox kinetics of sulfur species by atomic‐scale electrocatalysts in lithium–sulfur batteries journal October 2019
A Li–urine battery based on organic/aqueous hybrid electrolytes journal January 2019
Carbon nanotube-based materials for lithium–sulfur batteries journal January 2019
Rational design of polar/nonpolar mediators toward efficient sulfur fixation and enhanced conductivity journal January 2020

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Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
boron carbide
electrochemical performance
first‐principle calculations
high‐loading cathodes
lithium–sulfur batteries