New developments in lithium sulfur batteries

In this work, efforts were conducted in order to mitigate the issue of polysulfides dissolution and hence to improve the capacity and efficiency of Li-sulfur cells. The first approach was achieved by optimizing the amount of sulfur that can be contained in the sulfur/carbon electrode. Five sulfur/carbon ratios were prepared- (1) 50/50, (2) 60/40, (3) 70/30, (4) 80/20, and (5) 90/10- to study the effect of carbon contents on electrochemical cycling. The second approach was by adding nano-sized TiO₂ particles having a large specific surface area as the polysulfide adsorbing agent in the electrodes. The impact of nano-sized TiO₂ particles in improving the electrochemical properties of sulfur electrodes was investigated using CV measurements and charge/discharge tests. To further enhance the efficiency and cycling stability of Li-S batteries, a novel polysulfide electrolyte was developed. This new electrolyte mainly consisted of pre-dissolved lithium polysulfides (Li2Sx) as an alternative electrolyte salt to replace the lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfone)imide (LiTFSI). We also used LiNO₃ to mitigate the shuttle mechanism that occurs in Li-S cells during the charge and discharge. By creating a dynamic equilibrium at the interface of the cathode and electrolyte, the dissolution of lithium polysulfides, and thus the loss of active materials from the cathode during the discharge and charge of the cell, was greatly prevented.