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

Luo, Liu; Chung, Sheng -Heng; Yaghoobnejad Asl, Hooman; Manthiram, Arumugam

doi:10.1002/adma.201804149

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

Journal Article · 12 August 2018 · Advanced Materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201804149 · OSTI ID:1487460

Luo, Liu ^[1]; Chung, Sheng -Heng ^[2]; Yaghoobnejad Asl, Hooman ^[2];

^[2]

The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin TX (United States); University of Texas at Austin
The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin TX (United States)

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.

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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

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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