Premium
Electrocatalysis in Lithium Sulfur Batteries under Lean Electrolyte Conditions
Author(s) -
Yang Yuxiang,
Zhong Yiren,
Shi Qiuwei,
Wang Zhenhua,
Sun Kening,
Wang Hailiang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201808311
Subject(s) - electrolyte , sulfur , electrocatalyst , phosphide , polysulfide , cathode , lithium (medication) , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , electrode , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , materials science , catalysis , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , medicine , engineering , endocrinology
The presence of electrocatalysis in lithium–sulfur batteries has been proposed but not yet sufficiently verified. In this study, molybdenum phosphide (MoP) nanoparticles are shown to play a definitive electrocatalytic role for the sulfur cathode working under lean electrolyte conditions featuring a low electrolyte/active material ratio: the overpotentials for the charging and discharging reactions are greatly decreased. As a result, sulfur electrodes containing MoP nanoparticles show faster kinetics and more reversible conversion of sulfur species, leading to improvements in charging/discharging voltage profiles, capacity, rate performance, and cycling stability. Taking advantage of the electrocatalytic properties of MoP, high‐performance sulfur electrodes were successfully realized that are steadily cyclable at a high areal capacity of 5.0 mAh cm −2 with a challenging electrolyte/sulfur (E/S) ratio of 4 μL E mg −1 S .