title: Elemental Sulfur and Molybdenum Disulfide Composites for Li-S Batteries with Long Cycle Life and High-Rate Capability.
abstract: 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 solubilities of different Li polysulfide redox products. Here, we report the preparation and utilization of composites with a sulfur-rich matrix and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) particulate 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". 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 or copolymerization via inverse vulcanization. For the practical utility of this system to be highlighted, 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 that exhibited extended cycle lifetimes of up to 1000 cycles with low capacity decay (0.07% per cycle) and demonstrated exceptional rate capability with the delivery of reversible capacity up to 500 mAh/g at 5 C.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Philip T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Dirlam
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Program of Chemical Convergence for Energy and Environment, The National CRI Center for Intelligent Hybrids, and Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Research (IBS), Seoul National University , Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Jungjin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Adam G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Simmonds
authors.affiliation: Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domanik
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Clay B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Arrington
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Engineering Division, Materials Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States.|Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Engineering Division, Materials Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States.
authors.forename: Vladimir P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Oleshko
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Tristan S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kleine
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Program of Chemical Convergence for Energy and Environment, The National CRI Center for Intelligent Hybrids, and Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Research (IBS), Seoul National University , Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Kookheon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Char
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Engineering Division, Materials Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States.
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Soles
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University (CNU) , Daejeon 350-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chunjoong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , Berlin 12489, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pinna
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Program of Chemical Convergence for Energy and Environment, The National CRI Center for Intelligent Hybrids, and Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Research (IBS), Seoul National University , Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Yung-Eun
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona , Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.|School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Program of Chemical Convergence for Energy and Environment, The National CRI Center for Intelligent Hybrids, and Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Research (IBS), Seoul National University , Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pyun
keywords: Li−S; MoS2; elemental sulfur; high-rate; inverse vulcanization; lithium−sulfur; molybdenum disulfide; rechargeable battery