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Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2022, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (1): 128-135.doi: 10.1007/s40242-021-1273-5

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Regulating the Deposition of Insoluble Sulfur Species for Room Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries

WANG Chaozhi1, CUI Jingqin1, FANG Xiaoliang1,2, ZHENG Nanfeng1,2   

  1. 1. Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Preparation Technology of Nanomaterials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China;
    2. Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Energy Materials of China, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China
  • Received:2021-07-16 Revised:2021-09-21 Online:2022-02-01 Published:2021-10-03
  • Contact: FANG Xiaoliang, ZHENG Nanfeng E-mail:x.l.fang@xmu.edu.cn；nfzheng@xmu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(Nos. 2020YFB1505802, 2017YFA0207302), the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21731005, 21721001), and the Youth Innovation Fund of Xiamen City, China(No. 3502Z20206047).

Abstract: Room temperature sodium-sulfur(RT-Na-S) batteries are regarded as promising candidates for next-generation high-energy-density batteries. However, in addition to the severe shuttle effect, the inhomogeneous deposition of the insoluble sulfur species generated during the discharge/charge processes also contributes to the rapid capacity fade of RT-Na-S batteries. In this work, the deposition behavior of the insoluble sulfur species in the traditional slurry-coated sulfur cathodes is investigated using microporous carbon spheres as model sulfur host materials. To achieve uniform deposition of insoluble sulfur species, a self-supporting sulfur cathode fabricated by assembling microporous carbon spheres is designed. With homogeneous sulfur distribution and favorable electron transport pathway, the self-supporting cathode delivers remarkably enhanced rate capability(509 mA·h/g at 2.5 C, 1 C=1675 mA/g), cycling stability(718 mA·h/g after 480 cycles at 0.5 C) and areal capacity(4.98 mA·h/cm2 at 0.1 C), highlighting the great potential of manipulating insoluble sulfur species to fabricate high-performance RT-Na-S batteries.

Key words: Sodium sulfur battery, Polysulfide, Discharge/charge product, High sulfur loading, Stable cycling