APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) batteries for electric vehicles and other high loading applications
- High energy density
- High sulfur utilization
- Cost effective, environmentally friendly materials
Researchers at Berkeley Lab led by Gao Liu have developed an ant-nest electrode structure in lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries that provides large area storage capability and interconnected pathways to channel ion conductivity within the electrodes. The Berkeley Lab technology yields high sulfur loading, strong cycling stability, improved conductivity, and very efficient ion transport in a cost efficient, streamlined and elegant design for Li-S batteries.
A porous structure was produced using a polymer binder, conductive carbon nanotube framework and salt micro-particles as a sacrificial additive. Resulting electrodes attained a maximum specific capacity of 1,123.5 mAh/g at c/10 and 908.5 mAh/g at c/3 rates for up to 100 cycles. Additionally, the design allows for a high sulfur ratio of 80% to 85% and high sulfur loading of 3 mg/cm2.
Past Li-S batteries have fallen short for commercial use due to low energy density and poor cycling stability due to the dissolution of the polysulfide in the electrolyte during charging and discharging. The Berkeley Lab ant-nest electrode structure overcomes this limitation to meet future commercial demands with high electrochemical performance and high sulfur utilization.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Ai, G., Dai. Y., Mao, W., Zhao, H., Fu, Y., Song, X., En, Y., Battaglia, V., Srinivasan, V., Liu, G. “Biomimetic Ant-Nest Electrode Structures for High Sulfur Ratio Lithium-Sulfur Batteries,” American Chemical Society NanoLetters, 16 (9), pp. 5365-5372, 2016.
STATUS: Published PCT patent application US2017/014388 (publication no. WO 2017/127715 A1). Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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