Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Metal-Sulfur/Selenium Batteries

Abstract

AbstractWith the rapid development of mobile electronic devices and electric vehicles, traditional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can no longer satisfy human’s requirement due to the limited energy density. Nowadays, the metal-sulfur/selenium (M-S/Se) batteries have attracted widespread attention due to the high theoretical energy density. Among the M-S/Se batteries, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries receive more attention. Li-S batteries show a high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mA h g–1) and high energy density (2600 W h kg–1). However, Li-S batteries still face some problems: (i) Due to the soluble polysulfide (LiPSs), the “shuttle effect” can cause the loss of sulfur components and corrosion of Li anode. (ii) The electrical conductivity of S8 and Li2S2/Li2S is poor, lots of conductive additives need to be introduced into the sulfur cathode, making the theoretical energy density difficult to be achieved. (iii) The volume change during the charge/discharge processes is about 80%, which leads to the structural collapse. For the M-S/Se batteries, there exist the similar problems to be solved. Over the past years, efforts have been devoted to constructing conductive scaffolds to enhance the specific capacity, cycling stability and rate delivery of M-S/Se batteries. Carbon-based materials present the porous nanostructures and high conductivity, which have been employed as host materials and interlayer materials to promote the electrochemical performance. In this chapter, the investigations of carbon-based materials in M-S/Se batteries are summarized. Finally, carbon-based materials applied in M-S/Se batteries were briefly prospected, aiming at providing some thoughts for the design of electrode materials in M-S/Se batteries.KeywordsMetal-S/Se batteriesCarbon-based nanomaterialsMetal-freeSingle atom catalystsMetal nanoparticles