Preparation of sulfur micro-particles suitable for lithium sulfur batteries using sulfur vapor deposition

Abstract

The current paper reports the deposition of sulfur micro-particles using sulfur vapor deposition (SVD). Sulfur particles in size of 5 to 45 μm were deposited on a stainless steel substrate to be used as the cathode with porous structure in lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Mass loading of about 0.5 mg cm−2 was obtained from this pure sulfur cathode. The structure of this binder-free cathode was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical performance of the battery with two different organic liquid ether- and carbonate-based electrolytes was investigated and the results demonstrated that the battery with the ether-based electrolyte had much higher stability. By using the ether-electrolyte, an initial high discharge capacity of 1088.21 mAh g−1 was achieved for the rechargeable battery at the current density of 100 mA g−1. For the first time, this cathode showed a coulombic efficiency as high as 95.63% after 100 cycles without LiNO3 additive in the electrolyte. However, the specific capacity decreased during the battery performance.