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Title: Biomimetic Ant-Nest Electrode Structures for High Sulfur Ratio Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

The lithium–sulfur (Li–S) rechargeable battery has the benefit of high gravimetric energy density and low cost. Significant research currently focuses on increasing the sulfur loading and sulfur/inactive-materials ratio, to improve life and capacity. Inspired by nature’s ant-nest structure, this study results in a novel Li–S electrode that is designed to meet both goals. With only three simple manufacturing-friendly steps, which include slurry ball-milling, doctor-blade-based laminate casting, and the use of the sacrificial method with water to dissolve away table salt, the ant-nest design has been successfully recreated in an Li–S electrode. The efficient capabilities of the ant-nest structure are adopted to facilitate fast ion transportation, sustain polysulfide dissolution, and assist efficient precipitation. Finally, high cycling stability in the Li–S batteries, for practical applications, has been achieved with up to 3 mg·cm–2 sulfur loading. Li–S electrodes with up to a 85% sulfur ratio have also been achieved for the efficient design of this novel ant-nest structure.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [2];  [2];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division. Energy Technologies Area; No. 5 Electronic Research Inst. of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Guangzhou (China). Science and Technology on Reliability Physics and Application of Electronic Component Lab.
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division. Energy Technologies Area
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division. Energy Technologies Area; Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd., Guangzhou (China)
  4. No. 5 Electronic Research Inst. of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Guangzhou (China). Science and Technology on Reliability Physics and Application of Electronic Component Lab.
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V); China Scholarship Council
OSTI Identifier:
1433096
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nano Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 16; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
25 ENERGY STORAGE; 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; ant-nest structure; biomimetic; high sulfur ratio; Li-S battery

Citation Formats

Ai, Guo, Dai, Yiling, Mao, Wenfeng, Zhao, Hui, Fu, Yanbao, Song, Xiangyun, En, Yunfei, Battaglia, Vincent S., Srinivasan, Venkat, and Liu, Gao. Biomimetic Ant-Nest Electrode Structures for High Sulfur Ratio Lithium–Sulfur Batteries. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01434.
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Ai, Guo, Dai, Yiling, Mao, Wenfeng, Zhao, Hui, Fu, Yanbao, Song, Xiangyun, En, Yunfei, Battaglia, Vincent S., Srinivasan, Venkat, & Liu, Gao. Biomimetic Ant-Nest Electrode Structures for High Sulfur Ratio Lithium–Sulfur Batteries. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01434
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Ai, Guo, Dai, Yiling, Mao, Wenfeng, Zhao, Hui, Fu, Yanbao, Song, Xiangyun, En, Yunfei, Battaglia, Vincent S., Srinivasan, Venkat, and Liu, Gao. Mon . "Biomimetic Ant-Nest Electrode Structures for High Sulfur Ratio Lithium–Sulfur Batteries". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01434. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1433096.
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@article{osti_1433096,
title = {Biomimetic Ant-Nest Electrode Structures for High Sulfur Ratio Lithium–Sulfur Batteries},
author = {Ai, Guo and Dai, Yiling and Mao, Wenfeng and Zhao, Hui and Fu, Yanbao and Song, Xiangyun and En, Yunfei and Battaglia, Vincent S. and Srinivasan, Venkat and Liu, Gao},
abstractNote = {The lithium–sulfur (Li–S) rechargeable battery has the benefit of high gravimetric energy density and low cost. Significant research currently focuses on increasing the sulfur loading and sulfur/inactive-materials ratio, to improve life and capacity. Inspired by nature’s ant-nest structure, this study results in a novel Li–S electrode that is designed to meet both goals. With only three simple manufacturing-friendly steps, which include slurry ball-milling, doctor-blade-based laminate casting, and the use of the sacrificial method with water to dissolve away table salt, the ant-nest design has been successfully recreated in an Li–S electrode. The efficient capabilities of the ant-nest structure are adopted to facilitate fast ion transportation, sustain polysulfide dissolution, and assist efficient precipitation. Finally, high cycling stability in the Li–S batteries, for practical applications, has been achieved with up to 3 mg·cm–2 sulfur loading. Li–S electrodes with up to a 85% sulfur ratio have also been achieved for the efficient design of this novel ant-nest structure.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01434},
journal = {Nano Letters},
number = 9,
volume = 16,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01434
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    Factors of Kinetics Processes in Lithium–Sulfur Reactions
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