A novel flame-resistant separator for high performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSB) offer a high energy density in energy storage systems in the long run, and are of much lower cost than commercially available lithium-ion batteries. The electrochemistry performance of LSB can be improved greatly through the electro-catalytic mechanism, especially when it is applied on the separator, facing towards the cathode. However, due to the limitations of current technology (vacuum filtration and the slurry coat on polypropylene), high performance LSB's development is stunted. In this paper, an ultra-thin coating and quick methods were investigated to improve the performance of LSB by a synergy between a reduced graphene oxide (RGO) loaded S-catalyst (O-vacancy-enriched –BaTiO₃) and glass fiber separator, which has excellent fire retardant and high temperature performance (cycled more than 100 times at 60 °C), and can greatly prolong the service life of the LSB. The following theories and experiments show that the original separator modified design produces the electrochemical and safety performance of the LSB, which is significant for both theoretical research and vast application prospects.