Leakage-Proof Electrolyte Chemistry for High Performance Lithium-Sulfur Battery

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 May 12. doi: 10.1002/anie.202103209. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIt is well known that electrolyte leakage is a severe safety concern in commercially available lithium batteries, especially for pouch cell applications. With highly volatile 1,2-dimethoxyethane as solvent, the leakage related hazards are more pronounced and serious for promising lithium-sulfur batteries, which feature high energy density exceeding 500 Wh kg -1 . To address this concern, a leakage-proof electrolyte is delicately designed through tuning the electrolyte chemistry to achieve high performance lithium-sulfur batteries. We functionalize the commercial 1,2-dimethoxyethane-based electrolyte by Li + -conductive macromolecules of Li 6 PS 5 Cl-grafted poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) with strong polar groups, which can interact readily with the aluminum-plastic packing layer through hydrogen bond to immobilize the electrolyte. More importantly, the moisture from ambient environment can catalyze a further polymerization of the macromolecules to seal the leaking points of the pouch cell and thereby to solve the leakage issue effectively. As a result, the as-designed electrolyte endows lithium-sulfur batteries stable charge/discharge behavior and superior safety characteristics without any leakage even in an artificial cut pouch cell. It is noted that, with a bare sulfur loading of 4.9 mg cm -2 , the battery can deliver good endurance due to the suppressed polysulfide shuttle by its po...
Source: Angewandte Chemie - Category: Chemistry Authors: Source Type: research