Carbonized cellulose paper as an effective interlayer in lithium-sulfur batteries

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 396; pp. 637 - 643
• Main Authors: Li, Shiqi, Ren, Guofeng, Hoque, Md Nadim Ferdous, Dong, Zhihua, Warzywoda, Juliusz, Fan, Zhaoyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 28.02.2017
• Subjects: Cellulose; Li-S battery; Self-discharge; Shuttling effect; Shuttling effect; Li-S battery; Cellulose; Self-discharge
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.10.208

•A facile and economical method to fabricate interlayer for high-performance lithium-sulfur battery was demonstrated.•The performance of lithium-sulfur batteries without and with interlayer was compared.•The mechanism for the function of interlayer was explained. One of the several challenging problems hampering lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery development is the so-called shuttling effect of the highly soluble intermediates (Li2S8–Li2S6). Using an interlayer inserted between the sulfur cathode and the separator to capture and trap these soluble intermediates has been found effective in diminishing this effect. Previously, most reported interlayer membranes were synthesized in a complex and expensive process, and might not be suitable for practical cheap batteries. Herein, a facile method is reported to pyrolyze the commonly used cellulose filter paper into highly flexible and conductive carbon fiber paper. When used as an interlayer, such a carbon paper can improve the cell capacity by several folds through trapping the soluble polysulfides. The enhanced electronic conductivity of the cathode, due to the interlayer, also significantly improves the cell rate performance. In addition, it was demonstrated that such an interlayer can also effectively mitigate the self-discharge problem of the Li-S batteries. This study indicates that the cost-effective pyrolyzed cellulose paper has potential as interlayer for practical Li-S batteries.