Catalysis in Lithium-Sulfur Cathodes for Improved Performance and Stability
Authors: Hamal Dambar , Awadallah Osama , El-Zahab Bilal 
Published: November 2022

Among next generation batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries are expected to be first battery to find a commercial route in the next few years. The sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries provide both a lower cost and high capacity (1675 mAh/g) in comparison to intercalation cathode materials [1]. Despite these upsides, this conversion reaction type battery suffers from few problems that hinders their adoption. Some of these problems include the sluggish reaction kinetics, low sulfur utilization, rapid capacity loss due to various sulfur loss phenomena, and low Coulombic efficiency [2]. The use of electrocatalysts was shown to significantly boost the polysulfides redox reactions and improves the battery performance [3]. Transition metals, especially platinum group metal (PGM) based catalysts are proven to effectively boost the reaction rate of polysulfides conversion during cycling due to their high electrocatalytic activity [4], [5]. However, catalyst incorporation in conversion reaction batteries systems often would lead to side reactions and strategies on how to incorporate them into the battery system have to be developed.

In this work, platinum group metal (PGM) nanocatalysts were implemented in lithium-sulfur cathodes using a process that is tailored to effectively improve catalyst dispersion and to provide controlled catalyst electrolyte contact. The nanocatalysts were loaded in carbon nanotube at variable low contents 0.1 – 5 wt% (Figure 1a) and were used in cathodes with sulfur loading up to 70 wt%. Using standard lithium-sulfur electrolyte based on 1 mol/kg LiTFSI in DOL:DME (v:v = 1:1) with lean electrolyte condition, batteries based on 2032 type coin cells and multilayer pouch cells were studied. The batteries' performance was studied for their impedance growth using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the redox performance using cycling voltammetry, and for their sulfur utilization/sulfur loss/Coulombic efficiency using galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling. These cathodes were shown to have improved redox performance in the batteries, improved sulfur utilization, and maintained stable capacity even at high sulfur loadings of 4-5 mg/cm2. Comparison of performance of nanocatalyst-containing batteries versus control batteries show improved first cycle capacity and stabilized capacity retention in the early cycling life of the battery (Figure 1b). Elucidating the underlying phenomena of the stabilization is studied in detail revealing reduced sulfur precipitation and shuttle effects. Higher C-rate performance of up to 1C revealed similar observations of stabilization.

References

[1] G. Li, Z. Chen, and J. Lu, “Lithium-Sulfur Batteries for Commercial Applications,” Chem, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 3–7, Jan. 2018.

[2] X. Tang et al., “Factors of Kinetics Processes in Lithium–Sulfur Reactions,” Energy Technology, vol. 7, no. 12, p. 1900574, Dec. 2019.

[3] H. Chen et al., “Catalytic materials for lithium-sulfur batteries: mechanisms, design strategies and future perspective,” Materials Today, vol. 52, pp. 364–388, 2022.

[4] Z. Shen et al., “Rational Design of a Ni3N0.85 Electrocatalyst to Accelerate Polysulfide Conversion in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries,” ACS Nano, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 6673–6682, Jun. 2020.

[5] Y. Qi et al., “Catalytic polysulfide conversion in lithium-sulfur batteries by platinum nanoparticles supported on carbonized microspheres,” Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 435, p. 135112, 2022.

Figure 1