Porous Inorganic Framework Materials - Efficient Polysulfide Trapping Agents for Lithium Sulfur Batteries
Authors: Murugavel Shanthi Pavithra , Gattu Bharat , Datta Moni Kanchan , Velikokhatnyi Oleg I , Kumta Prashant N 
Published: February 2020

There is an urgent demand for long lasting ad high energy density rechargeable batteries with the rapid emergence of electric vehicles and large-scale stationary energy storage devices1
,
2. Lithium–sulfur batteries (Li – S batteries) present theoretical energy densities of 2600 W h kg−1, drastically higher than those of current lithium-ion batteries based on intercalation chemistry3. In addition, sulfur exhibits many advantages including low cost, natural occurrence in high abundance, and environmental friendliness. Sulfur is hence, a promising candidate to satisfy the growing and extending market need4.

Despite these advantages, poor room – temperature electronic conductivity (~10-15 S/cm)
5
along with the dissolution of long-chain polysulfide intermediates6 (Sn
2−, 3 ≤ n ≤ 8) in organic electrolyte results in significant loss of active materials from the cathode. In addition, polysulfide dissolution causes a change is electrolyte composition during the charge – discharge state leading to the formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) at the lithium anode which is one of the main reasons for poor rate stability and performance decay7.

To tackle the problems faced by Li – S batteries, extensive efforts have been conducted, such as designing novel composite nanostructures to immobilize sulfur within the cathode8
,
9, and optimizing the electrode structure by introducing a ceramic interlayer between the cathode and the separator to restrict the polysulfides within the cathode side2 and employing solid and gel polymer electrolytes to block the diffusion and migration of the polysulfides10
,
11.

In this work, inorganic materials with fine-tuned porosity and pore diameters were used as efficient polysulfide trapping sulfur hosts in Li – S battery. The ceramic oxide frameworks bind and restrains the polysulfides. The frameworks were infiltrated with sulfur using vapor infiltration techniques. These sulfur – hosted cathodes have been characterized chemically and electrochemically to validate their polysulfide restraining capacity in Li – S battery. Results of these studies will be presented and discussed.

Acknowledgements: Authors acknowledge the financial support of DOE grant DE-EE 0006825 and DE-EE-0008199, Edward R. Weidlein Chair Professorship funds and the Center for Complex Engineered Multifunctional Materials (CCEMM).

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