Journal article
Revisiting the use of electrolyte additives in Li–S batteries: the role of porosity of sulfur host materials
Sustainable energy & fuels, v 3(10), pp 2788-2797
24 Sep 2019
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
In this work, we demonstrate the important role of porosity of the sulfur host material in the efficient functioning of the biphenyl-4,4′-dithiol (BPD) electrolyte additive in Li–S batteries. We compare the electrochemical performance of Li–S cells fabricated using non-porous (CNFs), micro-porous (mi-CNFs), and micro-mesoporous carbon nanofibers (me-CNFs) as sulfur hosts. me-CNFs/S cathodes exhibit a stable specific capacity with 83% capacity retention at C/2 after 200 cycles and 90% retention at C/5 after 150 cycles, whereas mi-CNFs/S and CNFs/S cathodes retain close to only 30% capacity after 200 cycles. We investigate the role of porosity using two approaches – Li
+
diffusion coefficient and shuttle-current measurements. The me-CNFs/S cathodes show a relatively higher Li
+
ion diffusion coefficient during reduction and oxidation processes thus indicating a low concentration of BPD–S
x
2−
species in the electrolyte. Furthermore, the me-CNFs/S cathodes indicate a relatively lower shuttle effect compared to the other two cathodes, further validating the presence of a lower concentration of polysulfides in the electrolyte. Based on the size of the BPD–S
x
2−
complex, we infer that the use of mesoporous CNFs is essential for achieving long-term cycling. Our results show that the integration of suitable porous host materials with functional electrolyte additives presents a promising approach for developing high-performance Li–S batteries.
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Details
- Title
- Revisiting the use of electrolyte additives in Li–S batteries: the role of porosity of sulfur host materials
- Creators
- Arvinder Singh - Drexel UniversityAyda Rafie - Drexel UniversityVibha Kalra - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Sustainable energy & fuels, v 3(10), pp 2788-2797
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000487670300023
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85072638937
- Other Identifier
- 991019167436204721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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Source: SDGs in the Output
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Chemistry, Physical
- Energy & Fuels
- Materials Science, Multidisciplinary