Synergistic coupling of optical field and built-in electric field for lithium-sulfur batteries with high cyclabilities and energy densities

• Published in: Next Energy Vol. 4; p. 100134
• Main Authors: Liu, Yu-Hao, Yang, Cheng-Ye, Yu, Chun-Yu, Yu, Jia-Cheng, Han, Mei-Chen, Zhang, Jia-Hao, Yu, Yu, Yu, Zhong-Zhen, Qu, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Cobalt tetroxide; Photo-assisted lithium-sulfur batteries; The built-in electric field; The shuttle effect; Titanium dioxide; The built-in electric field; Cobalt tetroxide; The shuttle effect; Titanium dioxide; Photo-assisted lithium-sulfur batteries
• ISSN: 2949-821X; 2949-821X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nxener.2024.100134

Photo-assisted lithium sulfur batteries (PA-LSBs) provide vital and sustainable protocols for promoting sulfur redox reactions via powerful photoinduced effects. However, precise control of the stepwise adsorption, diffusion and photocatalytic conversion of polysulfides at the surface of photocatalysts is required to accelerate the photo-assisted process. Herein, optical field and built-in electric field synergistically-assisted LSBs are developed with a p-n junction of Co3O4-TiO2 on the carbon cloth, possessing a spontaneously generated built-in electric field and a well-matched energy band structure with sulfur redox reactions. Under light irradiation, the directional migration of soluble polysulfides and the space separation of photogenerated carriers are achieved with the synergistical coupling of the optical field and built-in electric field to precisely regulate the selective deposition of Li2S and inhibit the shuttle effect via an effective photocatalytic-promoted process, leading to a maximum capacity of 1087 mAh g−1 at 2 C and a low capacity attenuation of 0.068% per cycle at 5 C. A high areal capacity of 9.6 mAh cm−2 and a great potential photo-charge process can be realized with light irradiation. Furthermore, the stability of lithium metal anodes is improved accordingly. This work demonstrates a new insight to develop high-performance LSBs with a multifield synergistical coupling protocol. [Display omitted] •Photo-assisted lithium sulfur batteries (PA-LSBs) exhibit promoted sulfur redox reactions by powerful photoinduced effects.•Synergistic of optical/electric fields for the directional migration of polysulfides and the selective deposition of Li2S.•A great potential photo-charge process can be realized and cycled in PA-LSBs.•The stability of lithium metal anodes is improved accordingly due to the synergistic optical and electric fields.•PA-LSBs exhibit a high areal capacity of 9.6 mAh cm−2 and a capacity attenuation of only 0.068% per cycle at high rates.