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In situ visualization by X-Ray computed tomography on sulfur stabilization and lithium polysulfides immobilization in S@HCS/MnO cathode
DOI:
10.1016/j.ensm.2020.06.011
Authors:
Ruoyu
Xu
(University College London (UCL))
,
Jingwei
Xiang
(Huazhong University of Science and Technology)
,
Junrun
Feng
(University College London (UCL))
,
Xuekun
Lu
(University College London)
,
Zhangxiang
Hao
(University College London (UCL))
,
Liqun
Kang
(University College London (UCL))
,
Ming
Li
(Huazhong University of Science and Technology)
,
Yunsong
Wu
(University College London)
,
Chun
Tan
(University College London (UCL))
,
Yiyun
Liu
(University College London)
,
Guanjie
He
(University College London)
,
Dan J. L.
Brett
(University College London)
,
Paul R.
Shearing
(University College London)
,
Lixia
Yuan
(Huazhong University of Science and Technology)
,
Yunhui
Huang
(Huazhong University of Science and Technology)
,
Feng Ryan
Wang
(University College London)
Co-authored by industrial partner:
No
Type:
Journal Paper
Journal:
Energy Storage Materials
, VOL 31
, PAGES 164 - 171
State:
Published (Approved)
Published:
October 2020
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
17559
,
19318
,
19246
,
20643
Abstract: The lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have high theoretical energy density, exceeding that of the lithium-ion batteries. However, their practical applications are hindered by the capacity decay due to lithium polysulfide shuttle effect and sulfur volume expansion. Here, we design a S@hollow carbon with porous shell/MnOx (S@HCS/MnOx) cathode to accommodate and immobilize sulfur and polysulfides, and develop a non-destructive technique X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) to in situ visualize the volume expansion of Li-S cathode. The designed cathode achieves a specific capacity of ~1100 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C with a fade rate of 0.18% per cycle over 300 cycles. The X-ray CT shows that only 16% volume expansion and 70% volume fraction of solid sulfur remaining in the S@HCS/MnOx cathode, superior to the commercial cathode with 40% volume expansion and 5% volume remaining of solid sulfur particles. This is the first reported visualization evidence for the effectiveness of hollow carbon structure in accommodating cathode volume expansion and immobilizing sulfur shuttling. X-ray CT can serve as a powerful in situ tool to trace the active materials and then feedback to the structure design, which helps develop efficient and reliable energy storage systems.
Journal Keywords: Lithium-sulfur battery; X-ray computed tomography; In situ visualization; Designed sulfur cathode; Electrochemical performance
Diamond Keywords: Batteries; Lithium-Sulphur
Subject Areas:
Chemistry,
Energy,
Materials
Diamond Offline Facilities:
Electron Physical Sciences Imaging Centre (ePSIC)
Instruments:
E01-JEM ARM 200CF
Added On:
11/08/2020 23:00
Discipline Tags:
Energy Storage
Energy
Physical Chemistry
Energy Materials
Chemistry
Materials Science
Technical Tags:
Microscopy
Electron Microscopy (EM)
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)