Issue 15, 2022

A novel mixed ether-based electrolyte for lithium–sulfur batteries with Li anode protection by dual salts

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSB) are regarded as one of the next-generation energy storage systems with a high energy density. However, the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and irreversible consumption of the Li anode prevent the practical application of Li–S batteries. In this work, a mixed tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dipropyl ether (DPE) based electrolyte has been optimized for Li–S batteries. Due to the common-ion effect, the LiPS solubility has been significantly inhibited when the sulfur cathode is operating in a concentrated electrolyte containing an optimized solvent system with weak dissolving power. And no self-discharge effect occurred in the cells with these electrolytes during a 10 day storage. Besides, the coulombic efficiency (CE) for Li deposition/stripping has been improved by optimizing the ratio of dual lithium salts. Impressively, Li‖Cu half-cells can run stably for more than 500 cycles with a high CE (>99.3%). For these reasons, a Li–SeSPAN cell with a L1L2TE-1382 electrolyte demonstrates an excellent capacity retention (>94% after 500 cycles) with an ultrathin (50 μm) Li metal anode. With a good compatibility of the optimized electrolyte for both the Li metal anode and sulfur cathode, this work provides a new design strategy for the electrolyte for lithium–sulfur batteries.

Graphical abstract: A novel mixed ether-based electrolyte for lithium–sulfur batteries with Li anode protection by dual salts

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 May 2022
Accepted
23 Jun 2022
First published
06 Jul 2022

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2022,6, 3658-3668

A novel mixed ether-based electrolyte for lithium–sulfur batteries with Li anode protection by dual salts

X. Kong, Y. Kong, X. Liao, S. Liu and Y. Zhao, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2022, 6, 3658 DOI: 10.1039/D2SE00647B

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