TY - JOUR
T1 - Robust, Ultra-Tough Flexible Cathodes for High-Energy Li-S Batteries
AU - Chung, Sheng Heng
AU - Chang, Chi Hao
AU - Manthiram, Arumugam
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
PY - 2016/2/17
Y1 - 2016/2/17
N2 - Sulfur cathodes have become appealing for rechargeable batteries because of their high theoretical capacity (1675 mA h g-1). However, the conventional cathode configuration borrowed from lithium-ion batteries may not allow the pure sulfur cathode to put its unique materials chemistry to good use. The solid(sulfur)-liquid(polysulfides)-solid(sulfides) phase transitions generate polysulfide intermediates that are soluble in the commonly used organic solvents in Li-S cells. The resulting severe polysulfide diffusion and the irreversible active-material loss have been hampering the development of Li-S batteries for years. The present study presents a robust, ultra-tough, flexible cathode with the active-material fillings encapsulated between two buckypapers (B), designated as buckypaper/sulfur/buckypaper (B/S/B) cathodes, that suppresses the irreversible polysulfide diffusion to the anode and offers excellent electrochemical reversibility with a low capacity fade rate of 0.06% per cycle after 400 cycles. Engineering enhancements demonstrate that the B/S/B cathodes represent a facile approach for the development of high-performance sulfur electrodes with a high areal capacity of 5.1 mA h cm-2, which increases further to approach 7 mA h cm-2 on coupling with carbon-coated separators.
AB - Sulfur cathodes have become appealing for rechargeable batteries because of their high theoretical capacity (1675 mA h g-1). However, the conventional cathode configuration borrowed from lithium-ion batteries may not allow the pure sulfur cathode to put its unique materials chemistry to good use. The solid(sulfur)-liquid(polysulfides)-solid(sulfides) phase transitions generate polysulfide intermediates that are soluble in the commonly used organic solvents in Li-S cells. The resulting severe polysulfide diffusion and the irreversible active-material loss have been hampering the development of Li-S batteries for years. The present study presents a robust, ultra-tough, flexible cathode with the active-material fillings encapsulated between two buckypapers (B), designated as buckypaper/sulfur/buckypaper (B/S/B) cathodes, that suppresses the irreversible polysulfide diffusion to the anode and offers excellent electrochemical reversibility with a low capacity fade rate of 0.06% per cycle after 400 cycles. Engineering enhancements demonstrate that the B/S/B cathodes represent a facile approach for the development of high-performance sulfur electrodes with a high areal capacity of 5.1 mA h cm-2, which increases further to approach 7 mA h cm-2 on coupling with carbon-coated separators.
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U2 - 10.1002/smll.201503167
DO - 10.1002/smll.201503167
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84958110155
SN - 1613-6810
VL - 12
SP - 939
EP - 950
JO - Small
JF - Small
IS - 7
ER -