Shengrui Cui, Ning Wang, Yanyun Zhang, Minghui Zhang, Youjun Xing, Tiancheng Wang, Weiya Li, Wei Liu, Seung-Taek Myung, Yongcheng Jin
{"title":"Smart functional binders empowering lithium-sulfur cathodes with enhanced atmospheric stability and catalytic kinetics.","authors":"Shengrui Cui, Ning Wang, Yanyun Zhang, Minghui Zhang, Youjun Xing, Tiancheng Wang, Weiya Li, Wei Liu, Seung-Taek Myung, Yongcheng Jin","doi":"10.1039/d5mh00867k","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted considerable research attention, several critical barriers must be overcome to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale achievements and practical commercial applications. For example, the notorious polysulfide shuttle effect, severe electrode volume changes, and challenging solid-liquid-solid conversion reactions. In this study, we have developed a multifunctional binder by incorporating cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) into conventional poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) at a relatively lower processing temperature, which induces the phase transformation of α-PVDF to β-PVDF, thereby constructing an enhanced localized electric field with three advantages: (1) superior adsorption capabilities and catalytic activity, (2) robust mechanical properties that accommodate substantial volume fluctuations during cycling, and (3) excellent hydrophobic properties allowing for long-term storage in air. As a result, the batteries composed of an optimized PC-10 binder (CoPc added at 10%) maintain a specific capacity of 706 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> after 500 cycles at 0.5C, 399 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> at 2C after 1000 cycles with a decay rate of only 0.049% per cycle, and 80.5% capacity retention even under high sulfur loading (5 mg cm<sup>-2</sup>). Moreover, the batteries maintained excellent discharge capacity with 1024 and 845 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> discharge specific capacities at 0.5C and 1C, respectively, even when the cathode with the PC-10 binder has been exposed to air for 20 days. This strategy has successfully established a multifunctional binder through a simple and feasible approach, offering new insights into addressing the inherent challenges of Li-S batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":87,"journal":{"name":"Materials Horizons","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Materials Horizons","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5mh00867k","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted considerable research attention, several critical barriers must be overcome to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale achievements and practical commercial applications. For example, the notorious polysulfide shuttle effect, severe electrode volume changes, and challenging solid-liquid-solid conversion reactions. In this study, we have developed a multifunctional binder by incorporating cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) into conventional poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) at a relatively lower processing temperature, which induces the phase transformation of α-PVDF to β-PVDF, thereby constructing an enhanced localized electric field with three advantages: (1) superior adsorption capabilities and catalytic activity, (2) robust mechanical properties that accommodate substantial volume fluctuations during cycling, and (3) excellent hydrophobic properties allowing for long-term storage in air. As a result, the batteries composed of an optimized PC-10 binder (CoPc added at 10%) maintain a specific capacity of 706 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles at 0.5C, 399 mA h g-1 at 2C after 1000 cycles with a decay rate of only 0.049% per cycle, and 80.5% capacity retention even under high sulfur loading (5 mg cm-2). Moreover, the batteries maintained excellent discharge capacity with 1024 and 845 mA h g-1 discharge specific capacities at 0.5C and 1C, respectively, even when the cathode with the PC-10 binder has been exposed to air for 20 days. This strategy has successfully established a multifunctional binder through a simple and feasible approach, offering new insights into addressing the inherent challenges of Li-S batteries.
虽然锂硫(li -硫)电池已经引起了相当多的研究关注,但要弥合实验室规模的成就和实际商业应用之间的差距,还必须克服几个关键的障碍。例如,臭名昭著的多硫化物穿梭效应,严重的电极体积变化,以及具有挑战性的固-液-固转化反应。在本研究中,我们在较低的加工温度下将钴(II)酞菁(CoPc)加入到传统的聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)中,开发了一种多功能粘合剂,诱导α-PVDF向β-PVDF相变,从而构建了一个增强的局域电场,具有三个优点:(1)优越的吸附能力和催化活性;(2)坚固的机械性能,可适应循环过程中大量的体积波动;(3)优异的疏水性,可在空气中长期储存。结果表明,经优化的PC-10粘结剂(CoPc添加量为10%)组成的电池在0.5℃下循环500次后的比容量为706 mA h g-1,在2C下循环1000次后的比容量为399 mA h g-1,每循环衰减率仅为0.049%,即使在高硫负载(5 mg cm-2)下的容量保持率为80.5%。此外,即使PC-10粘合剂的阴极暴露在空气中20天,电池在0.5C和1C下的放电比容量分别为1024和845 mA h g-1,仍然保持优异的放电容量。该策略通过简单可行的方法成功建立了多功能粘结剂,为解决Li-S电池的固有挑战提供了新的见解。