Promising Cell Configuration for Next-Generation Energy Storage: Li2S/Graphite Battery Enabled by a Solvate Ionic Liquid Electrolyte.
Lithium-ion sulfur batteries with a [graphite|solvate ionic liquid electrolyte|lithium sulfide (Li2S)] structure are developed to realize high performance batteries without the issue of lithium anode. Li2S has recently emerged as a promising cathode material, due to its high theoretical specific capacity of 1166 mAh/g and its great potential in the development of lithium-ion sulfur batteries with a lithium-free anode such as graphite. Unfortunately, the electrochemical Li(+) intercalation/deintercalation in graphite is highly electrolyte-selective: whereas the process works well in the carbonate electrolytes inherited from Li-ion batteries, it cannot take place in the ether electrolytes commonly used for Li-S batteries, because the cointercalation of the solvent destroys the crystalline structure of graphite. Thus, only very few studies have focused on graphite-based Li-S full cells. In this work, simple graphite-based Li-S full cells were fabricated employing electrolytes beyond the conventional carbonates, in combination with highly loaded Li2S/graphene composite cathodes (Li2S loading: 2.2 mg/cm(2)). In particular, solvate ionic liquids can act as a single-phase electrolyte simultaneously compatible with both the Li2S cathode and the graphite anode and can further improve the battery performance by suppressing the shuttle effect. Consequently, these lithium-ion sulfur batteries show a stable and reversible charge-discharge behavior, along with a very high Coulombic efficiency.
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Zhe
Z
Li
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Shiguo
S
Zhang
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Shoshi
S
Terada
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Xiaofeng
X
Ma
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Kohei
K
Ikeda
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Yutaro
Y
Kamei
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Ce
C
Zhang
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Kaoru
K
Dokko
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Yokohama National University , 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Masayoshi
M
Watanabe
graphite; lithium sulfide; lithium-ion sulfur battery; lithium−sulfur battery; solvate ionic liquid