On the mechanistic role of nitrogen-doped carbon cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries with low electrolyte weight portion

Doerfler S, Strubel P, Jaumann T, Troschke E, Hippauf F, Kensy C, Schoekel A, Althues H, Giebeler L, Oswald S, Kaskel S (2018)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Journal

Nano Energy Elsevier

Book Volume: 54

Pages Range: 116-128

DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.09.065

Abstract

The lithium-sulfur (Li–S) battery is a promising alternative to overcome capacity and specific energy limitations of common lithium-ion batteries. Highly porous, nitrogen-doped carbons as conductive host structures for sulfur/lithium sulfide deposition are shown herein to play a critical role in reversible cycling at low electrolyte/sulfur ratio. The pore geometry is precisely controlled by an efficient, scalable ZnO hard templating process. By using an electrolyte volume as low as 4 µL mg-1 S, the beneficial nitrogen functionality leads to a twofold increased cell lifetime turning our findings highly favorable for real applications. Stable cycling of up to 156 cycles (59 cycles with undoped carbon) with high sulfur loadings of 3 mg cm-2 is achieved. Operando X-ray diffraction measurements during cycling show the transformation pathway of the sulfur – polysulfide – Li2S species. The observed intermediates critically depend on the nitrogen doping in the cathode carbon matrix. Nitrogen-doped carbons facilitate polysulfide adsorption promoting the nucleation of crystalline Li2S. These results provide new insights into the significant role of heteroatom doping for carbons in Li-S batteries with high specific energy.

Involved external institutions

Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik (IWS) / Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology DE Germany (DE) Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden e.V. (IFW) / Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden DE Germany (DE) Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Doerfler, S., Strubel, P., Jaumann, T., Troschke, E., Hippauf, F., Kensy, C.,... Kaskel, S. (2018). On the mechanistic role of nitrogen-doped carbon cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries with low electrolyte weight portion. Nano Energy, 54, 116-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.09.065

MLA:

Doerfler, Susanne, et al. "On the mechanistic role of nitrogen-doped carbon cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries with low electrolyte weight portion." Nano Energy 54 (2018): 116-128.

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