ABSTRACT
Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted much attention due to their superior theoretical specific capacity and high theoretical energy density. However, rapid capacity fading originating from the shuttle effect, insulating the S cathode and the dendrite formation on the Li anode restrict the practical applications of Li-S batteries. Herein, we suggest novel coatings on glass fiber separators to satisfy all high-performance Li-S battery requirements. A conductive Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheet/Fe-MOF or Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheet/Cu-MOF layer was coated on a glass fiber separator to act as a polysulfide trapping layer. The MXene layer with high conductivity and polar surface functional groups could confine polysulfides and accelerate the redox conversions. The porous MOF layer acts as a Li ion sieve, thereby leading to the interception of polysulfides and mitigation of Li dendrite growth. The cells with the Cu-MOF/MXenes and Fe-MOF/MXene separators display superior capacities of 1100 and 1131 mA h g-1 after 300 cycles, respectively, whereas the cell with a pure glass fiber separator delivers a very low capacity of 309 mA h g-1 after 300 cycles. With Fe-MOF/MXene and Cu-MOF/MXene configurations, the discharge capacity, coulombic efficiency, cycling stability, and electrochemical conversion reactions are significantly improved. Our ab initio calculations demonstrate that the MXene layer dissociates lithium polysulfides into adsorbed S and mobile Li ions, which explains the experimental findings.
ABSTRACT
Silica (SiO2)-based materials are a promising alternative anode material due to their high specific capacity, abundance, safety, and environmental friendliness. However, the significant volume expansion and the formation of a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) with electrolytes cause active lithium loss and result in poor Coulombic efficiency of SiO2-based materials, which hinder their commercial applications. Therefore, pre-lithiation, a method of embedding extra lithium ions in the electrodes prior to cycling, is an effective approach to replenish the largely irreversible lithium loss during cycling and overcomes these challenges. In this study, carbon-coated silica (SiO2@C) nano composite was synthesized via a sol-gel method and the beneficial impacts of using pre-lithiated SiO2@C electrodes in coin cells were investigated. It is shown that the carbon coating onto the surface of the SiO2particles and the pre-lithiation method led to a distinct improvement in the overall capacity and Coulombic efficiency of the cells due to the pre-formed SEI and the presence of a lithium reservoir within the anode. Furthermore, the anodes exhibited excellent cycling stability and good rate capability up to 2 A g-1.
ABSTRACT
Sulfur-hosting novel materials as a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries are in the focus of many research to enhance the specific capacity and cycling stability. Herein, we developed composite cathodes consisting of polycarboxylate functionalized graphene (PC-FGF) doped with TiO2 nanoparticles or poly1,5-diaminoanthraquinone (PDAAQ) and sulfur to enhance chemisorption property toward polysulfides. Additionally, PC-FGF/sulfur composite cathode functions as an efficient trapping site for polysulfides spices as well as contributes to facilitate electron and Li-ions movement toward or from the cathode. In the first experiment, the cell with sulfur incorporated TiO2/PC-FGF cathode is assembled with three different cathode-facing side-coated glass fiber separators. At the second test, PDAAQ/PC-FGF cathode is assembled with the same separator materials as before.The best electrochemical performance observed was sulfur incorporated TiO2/PC-FGF cathode with PDAAQ/PC-FGF-coated separator having a high discharge capacity of 1100 mAh g- 1 at 0.5 C after 100 cycles. It is found that the combination of TiO2/PC-FGF/sulfur cathode and PDAAQ/PC-FCF separator could serve as promising cathode and separator material due to high cycling stability and rate capability for advanced Li-S batteries.
