Progress and innovation of nanostructured sulfur cathodes and metal-free anodes for room-temperature Na–S batteries

• Marina Tabuyo-Martínez,
• Bernd Wicklein and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 995–1020, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.75

• cathode was assembled in a Li battery that delivered 490 mAh·g−1 after 500 cycles at 1C. It can be noticed that the concept of discrete S NPs is much more extensively researched in Li–S batteries than in Na–S batteries [59][60][61], which can be possibly explained by the longer history of Li battery

• stability and Coulombic efficiency. Likewise, the severe dendrite growth in Na–S is much more prominent than in Li–S batteries, affecting the safety of the batteries as well as reducing the cycling performance and capacity. More specific issues are the slow reaction kinetics between Na and S and the low

Design and facile synthesis of defect-rich C-MoS₂/rGO nanosheets for enhanced lithium–sulfur battery performance

• Chengxiang Tian,
• Juwei Wu,
• Zheng Ma,
• Bo Li,
• Pengcheng Li,
• Xiaotao Zu and
• Xia Xiang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2251–2260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.217

• construction of other high-performance metal disulfide electrodes for electrochemical energy storage. Keywords: annealing; double modification; high-performance electrodes; lithium–sulfur battery; molybdenum disulfide (MoS2); reduced graphene oxide (rGO); Introduction Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have

• attracted great attention because of the high energy density (2600 Wh kg−1) and specific capacity (1675 mAh·g−1), low cost, and abundant reserves of elemental sulfur [1][2]. Nevertheless, there are various technical challenges in the development of Li–S batteries. The intrinsic insulation properties of the

• ][5]. The decay of the electrochemically active lithium polysulfides causes rapid capacity degradation during charge and discharge process. In order to overcome the problems above, great efforts have been made to improve the performance of Li–S batteries, including combining conductive materials with

TiO₂/GO-coated functional separator to suppress polysulfide migration in lithium–sulfur batteries

• Ning Liu,
• Lu Wang,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Yan Zhao and
• Yongguang Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1726–1736, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.168

• electrochemical performance of Li/S batteries. The interlayer can capture the polysulfides due to the presence of oxygen functional groups and formation of chemical bonds. The hierarchically porous TiO2 nanoparticles are tightly wrapped in GO sheets and facilitate the polysulfide storage and chemical absorption

• excellent service life. Li-ion batteries have successfully demonstrated their promise for a wide range of small-scale applications. However, the large-scale utilization of Li-ion batteries is limited by the energy density [1][2][3][4][5]. Recently, lithium–sulfur batteries (Li/S batteries) have been widely

• investigated as an alternative energy storage system due to their distinct advantages, such as high theoretical capacity (1675 mAh g−1) and high energy density (2600 Wh kg−1). Furthermore, the abundance and nontoxic nature of elemental sulfur favors the large-scale utilization of Li/S batteries [6][7][8][9][10

Trapping polysulfide on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide for Li–S batteries through phase selection with optimized binding

• Sha Dong,
• Xiaoli Sun and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 774–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.77

• batteries has been demonstrated as an effective way to overcome the shuttle effect and enhance the cycling stability. In this work, the anchoring effects of 2H-MoS2 and 1T'-MoS2 monolayers for Li–S batteries were investigated by using density functional theory calculations. It was found that the binding

• batteries. Keywords: Li–S batteries; molybdenum disulfide; phase transformation; Introduction To satisfy the increasing demand for high-capacity energy storage systems, rechargeable lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have attracted much attention in recent years due to a high theoretical specific energy

• is composed of a sulfur cathode and a metallic Li anode, with an organic liquid electrolyte as the ionic conductor, and a porous separator. The Li–S batteries undergo the reaction of 16Li + S8 → 8Li2S, with a simplified reaction sequence of S8 → Li2S8 → Li2S6/Li2S4 → Li2S2/Li2S. Low coulombic

A porous 3D-RGO@MWCNT hybrid material as Li–S battery cathode

• Yongguang Zhang,
• Jun Ren,
• Yan Zhao,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Fuxing Yin and
• Yichao Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 514–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.52

• structure. When used in Li–S batteries, the 3D porous lattice matrix not only accommodates a high content of sulfur, but also induces a confinement effect towards polysulfide, and thereby reduces the “shuttle effect”. The as-prepared S-3D-RGO@MWCNT composite delivers an initial specific capacity of 1102

• nanotubes; energy storage and conversion; Li–S batteries; nanocomposites; Introduction Li–S batteries are notable for their high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh·g−1) and energy density (2600 Wh·kg−1). Sulfur is an abundant element, enabling Li–S batteries to be highly competitive among the various

• battery technologies. The actual application of Li–S batteries, however, is hindered by several challenges, i.e., i) the poor conductivity of sulfur and ii) the “shuttle effect” of polysulfides (Li2Sx, 4 < x ≤ 8) [1][2][3][4]. To achieve a high specific capacity, a sulfur cathode with high electrical

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes coated with zinc oxide nanoparticles as sulfur encapsulator for high-performance lithium/sulfur batteries

• Yan Zhao,
• Zhengjun Liu,
• Liancheng Sun,
• Yongguang Zhang,
• Yuting Feng,
• Xin Wang,
• Indira Kurmanbayeva and
• Zhumabay Bakenov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1677–1685, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.159

• carbon nanotubes coated with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO@NCNT) were prepared via a sol–gel route as sulfur encapsulator for lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries. The electrochemical properties of the S/ZnO@NCNT composite cathode were evaluated in Li/S batteries. It delivered an initial capacity of 1032

• providing pathways for ion and electron transport. The as-prepared S/ZnO@NCNT composite is a promising cathode material for Li/S batteries. Keywords: batteries; nanocomposites; sol–gel processes; sulfur; zinc oxide (ZnO); Introduction Due to its high theoretical specific capacity of 1672 mAh·g−1 and

• energy density of 2600 Wh·kg−1, sulfur has been considered as a promising cathode material for lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries [1]. Additionally, sulfur is naturally abundant, has low cost and is environmentally friendly. But it is not conductive, and it dissolves into the electrolyte in the form of

Synthesis and characterization of electrospun molybdenum dioxide–carbon nanofibers as sulfur matrix additives for rechargeable lithium–sulfur battery applications

• Ruiyuan Zhuang,
• Shanshan Yao,
• Maoxiang Jing,
• Xiangqian Shen,
• Jun Xiang,
• Tianbao Li,
• Kesong Xiao and
• Shibiao Qin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 262–270, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.28

• ) surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). MoO2–CNFs with an average diameter of 425–575 nm obtained after heat treatment were used as a matrix to prepare sulfur/MoO2–CNF cathodes for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. The polysulfide adsorption

• coefficient, low interfacial resistance and much better electrochemical performance than pristine sulfur cathodes. Keywords: electrochemical performance; electrospinning; lithium–sulfur batteries; MoO2–CNFs; sulfur matrix; Introduction Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are considered to be the most promising

• candidates for the next green rechargeable batteries due to their high energy density (2600 Wh kg−1) and theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh g−1). However, before Li–S batteries become a viable technology, some challenges need to be solved such as the insulating nature of sulfur and the shuttle effect

AFM as an analysis tool for high-capacity sulfur cathodes for Li–S batteries

• Renate Hiesgen,
• Seniz Sörgel,
• Rémi Costa,
• Linus Carlé,
• Ines Galm,
• Natalia Cañas,
• Brigitta Pascucci and
• K. Andreas Friedrich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 611–624, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.68

• preparation technique was introduced which lead to an enhanced battery performance. Results and Discussion Li–S batteries with different preparation and composition Figure 1 shows a comparison of the discharge capacity of the first batteries containing differently prepared cathodes over 50 cycles. Although

• . Nevertheless, a measurement was possible and delivered a value, although a higher uncertainty can be assumed. For a differentiation of sulfur from the other components it was sufficient. Comparison of the cycling performances of non-optimised Li–S batteries prepared with different binders. The batteries were