Sulfur-based compounds as alternative energy storage materials for lithium ion batteries

Wei-Nien Su^1*, Gebregziabher Brhane Berhe¹, Chen-Jui Huang², Teklay Mezgebe Hagos¹, Bing Joe Hwang^2,3

¹Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
²Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
³National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Wei-Nien Su, email:wsu@mail.ntust.edu.tw

Sulfur has been used as the cathode material for lithium-sulfur batteries due to its low cost, environmental friendliness, high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh g-1), and high energy density (2600 Wh kg-1). However, the dissolution of the polysulfide intermediates (Li2Sx, 4 < x < 8) during cycling causes the loss of active material, while the deposition of insoluble polysulfide and sulfide (e.g., Li2S/Li2S2) precipitates on the Li anode surface and the intrinsic insulating nature of sulfur cast concerns on the long cycle performance of the cell. In this presentation, I am showing some of our recent progress in mitigating the shuttling effect of polysulfides by designing nanostructured sulfur and carbon composites as the cathode. Further, a new battery configuration will be presented by combining two existing active materials, namely sulfurized carbon compound as the anode and commercial LiMn2O4 as the cathode. This new, low-cost cell has a higher specific capacity (1148 mAh g-1) and energy density (185 Wh kg-1) at 1 C-rate compared to standard lead-acid batteries, as a promising alternative solution for energy storage applications.

Keywords: non-aqueous sulfur battery, sulfurized carbon composite, high capacity, energy storage