Elemental Sulfur and Molybdenum Disulfide Composites for Li-S Batteries with Long Cycle Life and High-Rate Capability

Published

May 12, 2016

Author(s)

Vladimir P. Oleshko, Christopher L. Soles, Philip T. Dirlam, Jungjin Park, Adam G. Simmonds, Kenneth Domanik, Kookheon Char, Richard Glass, Nicola Pinna, Yung-Eun Sung

Abstract

The development of next-generation battery systems beyond Li-ion technology remains a crucial challenge in accommodating the evolving energy storage demands presented by electric vehicles and efficient storage of energy from intermittent renewable sources (e.g. solar). Li-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have the potential to meet these demands due to an exceptional theoretical capacity (1672 mAh/gsulfur) and high theoretical specific energy (2600 Wh/kgsulfur). The practical implementation of Li-S technology has been hindered by short cycle life and poor rate capability owing to deleterious effects resulting from the varied solubility of different Li polysulfide redox products. Here we report the preparation and utilization of composites with a sulfur rich matrix and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) inclusions as Li-S cathode materials with the capability to mitigate the dissolution of the Li polysulfide redox products via the MoS2 inclusions acting as “polysulfide anchors”. The in situ composite formation was completed via a facile, one-pot method with commercially available starting materials. The composites were afforded by first dispersing MoS2 directly in liquid elemental sulfur (S8) with sequential polymerization of the sulfur phase via thermal ring opening polymerization (ROP) or copolymerization via inverse vulcanization. To highlight the practical utility of this system, it was demonstrated that the composite formation methodology was amenable to larger scale processes with composites easily prepared in 100 g batches. Cathodes fabricated with the high sulfur content composites as the active material afforded Li-S cells which exhibited extended cycle lifetimes of up to 1000 cycles with low capacity

Citation

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Volume

8

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

Lithium-Sulfur, Battery, MoS2, Molybdenum Sulfide, Inverse Vulcanization

Citation

Oleshko, V. , Soles, C. , Dirlam, P. , Park, J. , Simmonds, A. , Domanik, K. , Char, K. , Glass, R. , Pinna, N. and Sung, Y. (2016), Elemental Sulfur and Molybdenum Disulfide Composites for Li-S Batteries with Long Cycle Life and High-Rate Capability, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (Accessed April 23, 2024)