Lithium–sulphur batteries with a microporous carbon paper as a bifunctional interlayer

Abstract

The limitations in the cathode capacity compared with that of the anode have been an impediment to advance the lithium-ion battery technology. The lithium-sulphur system is appealing in this regard, as sulphur exhibits an order of magnitude higher capacity than the currently used cathodes. However, low active material utilization and poor cycle life hinder the practicality of lithium-sulphur batteries. Here we report a simple adjustment to the traditional lithium-sulphur battery configuration to achieve high capacity with a long cycle life and rapid charge rate. With a bifunctional microporous carbon paper between the cathode and separator, we observe a significant improvement not only in the active material utilization but also in capacity retention, without involving complex synthesis or surface modification. The insertion of a microporous carbon interlayer decreases the internal charge transfer resistance and localizes the soluble polysulphide species, facilitating a commercially feasible means of fabricating the lithium-sulphur batteries.

Sulphur-impregnated flow cathode to enable high-energy-density lithium flow batteries

“…Electrolyte (100 ml) (0.2 M LiClO 4 and 0.1 M LiNO 3 in DOL and DME (1:1 v/v)) was added on the separators. One piece of carbon paper (18 mm diameter) was placed on the separator act as a buffer layer to decrease the shuttle effect and enhance the conductivity, as suggested by the work of Manthiram et al 47,48 Ten ml suspension was added on the surface of the carbon paper. A piece of nickel foam (18 mm diameter) was placed on the suspension as a current collector followed by a stainless steel spring and a polytetrafluoroethylene O-ring.…”

Biomass-derived renewable carbon materials for electrochemical energy storage

“…All of the aforementioned drawbacks result from the insulating nature of sulfur, dissolution of reaction intermediates (lithium polysulfides) and large volume variation between sulfur and sulfides during electrochemical reaction process [130]. To date, various approaches, such as developing new electrolytes [131][132][133], modifying the separator [134], protecting lithium anode [135], as well as designing new configuration [136,137], have been adopted to mitigate the 'shuttle effect' of polysulfides and prolong cyclic life. Particularly, to improve the practical lithium-sulfur performance, many efforts have been devoted to developing advanced sulfur cathodes, including adding advanced binder or hybridizing sulfur with conductive host to improve conductivity, modifying surface chemistry or introducing metal oxides with strong adsorption to retard the dissolution of polysulfides, inserting interlayer to manipulate the 'shuttle effects' of polysulfides or designing nanostructure (yolk-shell or hollow) to accommodate the volume change during electrochemical reaction process [138].…”

Surface-enhanced redox chemistry of polysulphides on a metallic and polar host for lithium-sulphur batteries

“…These include solid-state electrolytes [8][9][10] that show much promise for future development in conjunction with an ionically conductive sulphur cathode 11 . More effort, to date, has been devoted to the cathode side in order to physically confine the LiPSs within the pores or layers of carbonaceous materials that include mesoporous carbon 12 , hollow porous carbon spheres 13,14 , graphene 15,16 , conductive polymer nanotubes 17 and carbon interlayers 18 . However, over long-term cycling, the hydrophilic LiPSs diffuse out from the hydrophobic pores.…”