Polysulfide-Shuttle Control in Lithium-Sulfur and Sodium-Sulfur Batteries with Polymer-Coated Solid-State Electrolytes

Abstract

The emerging lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are gaining much attention as a promising next-generation energy storage technology.1 An analogous battery system with a sodium-sulfur chemistry has recently started to receive considerable attention as well.2 The electrochemical mechanism of the Li-S and Na-S batteries is quite similar and the charge-discharge processes of these two batteries involve the formation of soluble polysulfide intermediate species. Therefore, the development of both of these two battery systems is facing a critical obstacle due to the so-called “polysulfide-shuttle” behavior during cell operation.3, 4 Although a lot of efforts have been attempted to address such a challenge since it has been recognized many years ago, there is still a lack of reliable approaches that can fully prevent the polysulfide-shuttle without bringing any other negative effects to the Li-S or Na-S cell systems. Herein we present an alternative strategy to suppress the polysulfide-shuttle in Li-S and Na-S batteries with, respectively, a Li+-ion conductive and a Na+-ion conductive solid-state electrolytes.5, 6 However, the use of a solid electrolyte usually brings an additional challenge in maintaining an adequate ionic interface between the lithium or sodium anodes and the solid electrolytes. Therefore, a strategic approach by coating the solid-state electrolytes with a thin layer of a polymer has been developed. The polymer coating on the ceramic solid-state electrolyte offers a facile interface with the metal electrodes. Both the Li-S batteries and the Na-S batteries with the polymer-coated solid-electrolyte membrane show enhanced cycling stability. References X. W. Yu and A. Manthiram, Accounts Chem Res, 2017, 50, 2653-2660.A. Manthiram and X. W. Yu, Small, 2015, 11, 2108-2114.Y. X. Wang, B. W. Zhang, W. H. Lai, Y. F. Xu, S. L. Chou, H. K. Liu and S. X. Dou, Adv Energy Mater, 2017, 7, 1602829.A. Manthiram, X. W. Yu and S. Wang, Nat Rev Mater, 2017, 2, 16103.X. Yu and A. Manthiram, Adv Funct Mater, In Presss, doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201805996.X. W. Yu, Z. H. Bi, F. Zhao and A. Manthiram, Adv Energy Mater, 2016, 6, 1601392.