High performance sulfur graphite full cell for next generation sulfur Li-ion battery

Abstract

Sulfur (S) Li-ion battery which use the metallic Li free anode is deemed as a promising solution to conquer the hazards originating from Li metal. However, stable cycling performance and low production price of the S Li-ion battery still remain challenging. Here, we propose a S-LixC full cell system by paring a S cathode and a pre-lithiated graphite anode which is cheap and commercially available. It shows stable cycling performance with a capacity around 1300 mAh (g-S)−1 at 0.2 C-rate and 1000 mAh (g-S)−1 at 0.5 C-rate. In addition, 0.1% per cycle capacity fading rate with a capacity retention of 880 mAh (g-S)−1 after 400 cycles at 0.2 C-rate has been achieved. The pre-formed solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the pre-lithaited graphite anode largely contributes to the high capacity performance. Notably, a 10-times-enlarged scale of S-LixC laminate type full cell has been assembled with high capacity performance (around 1000 mAh (g-S)−1) even after high rate cycling.