Abstract
Lithium-sulfur batteries have received intensive attention, due to their high specific capacity, but the shuttle effect of soluble polysulfide results in a decrease in capacity. In response to this issue, we develop a novel tannic acid and Au nanoparticle functionalized separator. The tannic acid and gold nanoparticles were modified onto commercial polypropylene separator through a two-step solution process. Due to a large number of phenolic hydroxyl groups contained in the modified layer and the strong polarity of the gold nanoparticles, the soluble polysulfide generated during battery cycling is well stabilized on the cathode side, slowing down the capacity fade brought by the shuttle effect. In addition, the modification effectively improves the electrolyte affinity of the separator. As a result of these benefits, the novel separator exhibits improved battery performance compared to the pristine polypropylene separator.
Highlights
The ever-increasing demand for a secondary battery with high energy density has significantly promoted the development of Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) battery
The functionalized barrier layer could act like a sieve that prevents the transport of soluble lithium polysulfide (LiPS) through the membrane physically [12,13]
The redox property of Tannic acid (TA) can be exploited to generate sulphiphilic nanoparticles on the TA coating to further block soluble LiPSs. Inspired by these merits of TA, we develop a bioinspired functionalization of polypropylene (PP) separator, which results in a modified separator with a tannic acid/Au functionalization layer
Summary
The ever-increasing demand for a secondary battery with high energy density has significantly promoted the development of Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) battery. Functionalization of the separator with a barrier layer against soluble LiPSs is a cost-effective approach toward high-performance Li-S battery [6,7,8,9,10,11]. The chemically active component is suggested to incorporate into the functionalization layer to further restrict the shuttling of soluble LiPSs [16]. These active components provide strong anchoring sites for stabilization of soluble LiPSs [17,18]. The composite separator effectively suppresses LiPSs shuttling and enhances the electrolyte affinity of the PP substrate, improving the performance
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