Electrochemical generation of liquid and solid sulfur on two-dimensional layered materials with distinct areal capacities

Yang, Ankun; Zhou, Guangmin; Kong, Xian; Vilá, Rafael A.; Pei, Allen; Wu, Yecun; Yu, Xiaoyun; Zheng, Xueli; Wu, Chun-Lan; Liu, Bofei; Chen, Hao; Xu, Yan; Chen, Di; Li, Yanxi; Fakra, Sirine; Hwang, Harold Y.; Qin, Jian; Chu, Steven; Cui, Yi

doi:10.1038/s41565-019-0624-6

Title: Electrochemical generation of liquid and solid sulfur on two-dimensional layered materials with distinct areal capacities

Journal Article · 27 January 2020 · Nature Nanotechnology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0624-6 · OSTI ID:1605374

^[1]; Zhou, Guangmin ^[1];

^[2]; Vilá, Rafael A. ^[1];

^[1];

^[2]; Yu, Xiaoyun ^[1];

^[1];

^[1]; Liu, Bofei ^[1];

^[1]; Xu, Yan ^[1];

^[1]; Li, Yanxi ^[1]; Fakra, Sirine ^[3]; Hwang, Harold Y. ^[4];

^[2]; Chu, Steven ^[5];

^[6]

Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

It has recently been shown that sulfur, a solid material in its elementary form S8, can stay in a supercooled state as liquid sulfur in an electrochemical cell. We establish that this newly discovered state could have implications for lithium–sulfur batteries. Here, through in situ studies of electrochemical sulfur generation, we show that liquid (supercooled) and solid elementary sulfur possess very different areal capacities over the same charging period. To control the physical state of sulfur, we studied its growth on two-dimensional layered materials. We found that on the basal plane, only liquid sulfur accumulates; by contrast, at the edge sites, liquid sulfur accumulates if the thickness of the two-dimensional material is small, whereas solid sulfur nucleates if the thickness is large (tens of nanometres). Correlating the sulfur states with their respective areal capacities, as well as controlling the growth of sulfur on two-dimensional materials, could provide insights for the design of future lithium–sulfur batteries.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: DGE–1656518; AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1605374

Journal Information:: Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 15, Issue 3; ISSN 1748-3387

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Supercool sulfur Zhou, Dong; Wang, Guoxiu Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 15, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0625-5	journal	January 2020

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