Issue 5, 2020

A safe Li–Se battery in an ionic liquid-based electrolyte operating at 25–70 °C by using a N,S,O tri-doped mesoporous carbon host material

Abstract

The selenium cathode for lithium–selenium batteries (Li–Se) has recently been recognized as an appealing high-energy alternative to sulfur due to its superior conductivity and chemical stability. These features open new possibilities such as alternative electrolytes that are known to be incompatible with a sulfur environment. In this work, we introduce a Li–Se battery comprising the non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte (N-propyl-N-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonylimide)) which allows the battery to operate stably from room temperature to up 70 °C. A N,S,O tri-doped mesoporous carbon is employed as a porous conductive network to host the selenium. At room temperature, the Li–Se battery shows capacity retention of 91% at 1C-rate after 100 cycles and can deliver a capacity up to 560 mA h g−1 at 0.2C. Due to the tailored electrolyte, the battery operates well at 70 °C, where capacity of 670 mA h g−1 is obtained at 0.25C and 94% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 0.5C-rate. Thus we demonstrate for the first time the compatibility of the ionic liquid electrolyte against selenium in a Li–Se battery for large scale energy storage applications.

Graphical abstract: A safe Li–Se battery in an ionic liquid-based electrolyte operating at 25–70 °C by using a N,S,O tri-doped mesoporous carbon host material

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Nov 2019
Accepted
26 Feb 2020
First published
27 Feb 2020

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020,4, 2322-2332

A safe Li–Se battery in an ionic liquid-based electrolyte operating at 25–70 °C by using a N,S,O tri-doped mesoporous carbon host material

T. C. Mendes, C. Nguyen, A. J. Barlow, P. V. Cherepanov, M. Forsyth, P. C. Howlett and D. R. MacFarlane, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020, 4, 2322 DOI: 10.1039/C9SE01074B

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