TY - JOUR
T1 - Novel gel polymer electrolyte for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries
AU - Liu, Ming
AU - Zhou, Dong
AU - He, Yan Bing
AU - Fu, Yongzhu
AU - Qin, Xianying
AU - Miao, Cui
AU - Du, Hongda
AU - Li, Baohua
AU - Yang, Quan Hong
AU - Lin, Zhiqun
AU - Zhao, T. S.
AU - Kang, Feiyu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - The ability to suppress the dissolution of lithium polysulfides in liquid electrolyte (LE) is emerging and scientifically challenging, representing an important endeavor toward successful commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. In this context, a common and effective strategy to address this challenge is to replace the LE with a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE). However, the limited ionic conductivity of state-of-the-art GPEs and poor electrode/GPE interfaces greatly restrict their implementation. Herein, we report, for the first time, a facile in-situ synthesis of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETEA)-based GPE with an extremely high ionic conductivity (1.13×10-2 S cm-1). Quite intriguingly, even interfaced with a bare sulfur cathode, this GPE rendered the resulting polymer Li-S battery with a low electrode/GPE interfacial resistance, high rate capacity (601.2 mA h g-1 at 1 C) and improved capacity retention (81.9% after 400 cycles at 0.5 C). These remarkable performances can be ascribed to the immobilization of soluble polysulfides imparted by PETEA-based GPE and the construction of a robust integrated GPE/electrode interface. Notably, due to the tight adhesion between the PETEA-based GPE and electrodes, a high-performance flexible polymer Li-S battery was successfully crafted. This work therefore opens up a convenient, low-cost and effective way to substantially enhance the capability of Li-S batteries, a key step toward capitalizing on GPE for high-performance Li-S batteries.
AB - The ability to suppress the dissolution of lithium polysulfides in liquid electrolyte (LE) is emerging and scientifically challenging, representing an important endeavor toward successful commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. In this context, a common and effective strategy to address this challenge is to replace the LE with a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE). However, the limited ionic conductivity of state-of-the-art GPEs and poor electrode/GPE interfaces greatly restrict their implementation. Herein, we report, for the first time, a facile in-situ synthesis of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETEA)-based GPE with an extremely high ionic conductivity (1.13×10-2 S cm-1). Quite intriguingly, even interfaced with a bare sulfur cathode, this GPE rendered the resulting polymer Li-S battery with a low electrode/GPE interfacial resistance, high rate capacity (601.2 mA h g-1 at 1 C) and improved capacity retention (81.9% after 400 cycles at 0.5 C). These remarkable performances can be ascribed to the immobilization of soluble polysulfides imparted by PETEA-based GPE and the construction of a robust integrated GPE/electrode interface. Notably, due to the tight adhesion between the PETEA-based GPE and electrodes, a high-performance flexible polymer Li-S battery was successfully crafted. This work therefore opens up a convenient, low-cost and effective way to substantially enhance the capability of Li-S batteries, a key step toward capitalizing on GPE for high-performance Li-S batteries.
KW - Gel polymer electrolyte
KW - In-situ synthesis
KW - Lithium-sulfur battery
KW - Pentaerythritol tetraacrylate
KW - Polysulfides immobilization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959361264&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.02.008
DO - 10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.02.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84959361264
SN - 2211-2855
VL - 22
SP - 278
EP - 289
JO - Nano Energy
JF - Nano Energy
ER -