TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel lithium/sulfur battery based on sulfur/graphene nanosheet composite cathode and gel polymer electrolyte
AU - Zhang, Yongguang
AU - Zhao, Yan
AU - Bakenov, Zhumabay
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Research Grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and partially by the World Bank - Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan grant. The authors acknowledge the Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System (the General Director Dr. Baigarin) for the overall support to the work. Nazarbayev University (President Mr. S. Katsu, Vice-President Mr. M. Mamashev) assisted in meeting the publication costs of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Zhang et al.; licensee Springer.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - A novel sulfur/graphene nanosheet (S/GNS) composite was prepared via a simple ball milling of sulfur with commercial multi-layer graphene nanosheet, followed by a heat treatment. High-resolution transmission and scanning electronic microscopy observations showed the formation of irregularly interlaced nanosheet-like structure consisting of graphene with uniform sulfur coating on its surface. The electrochemical properties of the resulting composite cathode were investigated in a lithium cell with a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) prepared by trapping 1 mol dm−3 solution of lithium bistrifluoromethanesulfonamide in tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether in a polymer matrix composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/poly(methylmethacrylate)/silicon dioxide (PVDF-HFP/PMMA/SiO2). The GPE battery delivered reversible discharge capacities of 809 and 413 mAh g−1 at the 1st and 50th cycles at 0.2C, respectively, along with a high coulombic efficiency over 50 cycles. This performance enhancement of the cell was attributed to the suppression of the polysulfide shuttle effect by a collective effect of S/GNS composite cathode and GPE, providing a higher sulfur utilization.
AB - A novel sulfur/graphene nanosheet (S/GNS) composite was prepared via a simple ball milling of sulfur with commercial multi-layer graphene nanosheet, followed by a heat treatment. High-resolution transmission and scanning electronic microscopy observations showed the formation of irregularly interlaced nanosheet-like structure consisting of graphene with uniform sulfur coating on its surface. The electrochemical properties of the resulting composite cathode were investigated in a lithium cell with a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) prepared by trapping 1 mol dm−3 solution of lithium bistrifluoromethanesulfonamide in tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether in a polymer matrix composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/poly(methylmethacrylate)/silicon dioxide (PVDF-HFP/PMMA/SiO2). The GPE battery delivered reversible discharge capacities of 809 and 413 mAh g−1 at the 1st and 50th cycles at 0.2C, respectively, along with a high coulombic efficiency over 50 cycles. This performance enhancement of the cell was attributed to the suppression of the polysulfide shuttle effect by a collective effect of S/GNS composite cathode and GPE, providing a higher sulfur utilization.
KW - Gel polymer electrolyte
KW - Graphene nanosheet
KW - Lithium/sulfur battery
KW - Nanostructured sulfur cathode
KW - Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/poly(methylmethacrylate)/silicon dioxide polymer matrix
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908156856&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908156856&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1556-276X-9-137
DO - 10.1186/1556-276X-9-137
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84908156856
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - Nanoscale Research Letters
JF - Nanoscale Research Letters
SN - 1931-7573
IS - 1
M1 - 137
ER -