Browsing by Author "Bell, Michaela Elaine"

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    A Class of Organopolysulfides As Liquid Cathode Materials for High-Energy-Density Lithium Batteries
    (ACS, 2018) Bhargav, Amruth; Bell, Michaela Elaine; Karty, Jonathan; Cui, Yi; Fu, Yongzhu; Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    Sulfur-based cathodes are promising to enable high-energy-density lithium–sulfur batteries; however, elemental sulfur as active material faces several challenges, including undesirable volume change (∼80%) when completely reduced and high dependence on liquid electrolyte wherein an electrolyte/sulfur ratio >10 μL mg–1 is required for high material utilization. These limit the attainable energy densities of these batteries. Herein, we introduce a new class of phenyl polysulfides C6H5SxC6H5 (4 ≤ x ≤ 6) as liquid cathode materials synthesized in a facile and scalable route to mitigate these setbacks. These polysulfides possess sufficiently high theoretical specific capacities, specific energies, and energy densities. Spectroscopic techniques verify their chemical composition and computation shows that the volume change when reduced is about 37%. Lithium half-cell testing shows that phenyl hexasulfide (C6H5S6C6H5) can provide a specific capacity of 650 mAh g–1 and capacity retention of 80% through 500 cycles at 1C rate along with superlative performance up to 10C. Furthermore, 1302 Wh kg–1 and 1720 Wh L–1 are achievable at a low electrolyte/active material ratio, i.e., 3 μL mg–1. This work adds new members to the cathode family for Li–S batteries, reduces the gap between the theoretical and practical energy densities of batteries, and provides a new direction for the development of alternative high-capacity cathode materials.
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    Novel organosulfur cathode materials for advanced lithium batteries
    (2018-05) Bell, Michaela Elaine; Fu, Yongzhu
    Recent innovations in portable electronics, electric vehicles and power generation by wind and solar have expanded the need for effcient battery storage. Lithium-ion batteries have been the frontline contender of battery storage yet are not able to match current demands. Alternatively, lithium-sulfur batteries are a promising technology to match the consumer demands. Elemental sulfur cathodes incur a variety of problems during cycling including the dissolution of intermediate lithium polysul- fides, an undesirable volume change (~ 80%) when completely reduced and a high dependence on liquid electrolyte, which quickly degrades the cell's available energy density. Due to these problems, the high theoretical capacity and energy density of lithium sulfur cells are unattainable. In this work, A new class of phenyl polysul- fides, C6H5SxC6H5(4 < x <6), are developed as liquid sulfur containing cathode materials. This technology was taken a step further to fulfill and emerging need for exible electronics in technology. Phenyl tetrasulfide (C6H5S4C6H5) was polymerized to form a high energy density battery with acute mobility. Lithium half-cell testing shows that phenyl hexasulfide (C6H5S6C6H5) can provide a specific capacity of 650mAh/g and capacity retention of 80% through 500 cycles at 1C rate along with superlative performance up to 10C. Furthermore, 1, 302W h/ kg and 1, 720W h/L are achievable at a low electrolyte/active material ratio. Electrochemical testing of polymer phenyl tetrasulfide reveals high specific capacities of 634mAh /g at 1C, while reaching 600mAh /g upon mechanical strain testing. This work introduces novel cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries and provides a new direction for the development of alternative high-capacity flexible cathode materials.