A collaborative effort has found reliable way to make solid state batteries with sulfur, making them cheaper and safer.
Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have turned to a one-step milling process to assess the suitability of sulfur for building solid-state batteries. The abundant, low-cost element has a high theoretical capacity, but has remained unutilized at scale.
The growth in demand for electric transportation is expected to double the requirement of lithium-ion batteries from their 2023 levels by the end of this decade. Increasing costs of lithium and other components, such as cobalt in lithium-ion batteries, can become a major hurdle in the transition away from fossil fuels. Sulfur, on the other hand, is abundantly available and therefore a low-cost material for use in batteries. Its widespread use has been hindered by its intrinsic insulating nature and negligible electronic conductivity. Researchers at UChicago PME, however, believed that finding the perfect particle size could change this and make sulfur more useful in solid-state batteries. One-step milling processElectric vehicle makers are keen to switch to solid-state batteries due to their superior safety profile. Unlike a lithium-ion battery with a liquid electrolyte that can burst into flames in case of an accident, a solid-state battery contains non-flammable electrolytes, making it inherently safer. A sulfur-based solid-state battery consists of three major components: the solid-state electrolyte, conductive carbon, and sulfur active material. Inside the battery, these three components exist in powder form, which is either hand-mixed or milled separately and then combined. Both approaches were not only time-consuming but also inefficient, as the sulfur and electrolyte particles were not in close contact. This led to low utilization, thereby lowering battery performance. UChicago PME researchers developed a one-step milling process in which all three components were powdered together, creating a metastable interphase that facilitates electrolyte reaction with the sulfur cathode material, improving battery performance. In their setup, the sulfur-based composite cathode delivered a discharge specific capacity of about 1500 milliampere-hours per gram, which is close to the theoretical capacity of 1675 mAh per gram for sulfur. Solving more problems than one“Instead of adding new materials or coatings, this work shows that simply arranging the existing materials more carefully allows sulfur to react much more efficiently,” said Seung Bo Yang, a researcher at LG Energy Solution, which also collaborated in the work. “By optimizing particle size and how the materials are mixed, the battery can deliver high capacity, practical energy output in an all-solid-state design.”However, the team did not just solve that problem. Batteries also face another challenge of ‘breathing’, where materials expand and shrink during charge-discharge cycles. Surprisingly, sulfur acts quite the opposite of other commonly used materials. While they shrink, sulfur expands and vice versa. So, the researchers paired a silicon negative electrode with a lithium sulfide positive electrode, where one side of the battery expanded while the other contracted, compensating for each other and reducing the net change in stack thickness. “High-performing batteries help no one sitting in labs. To hit our energy and climate goals, we need them out working in the real world. That means they must be affordable at scale,” said Shirley Meng, professor at UChicago PME. in a press release. This partnership between UChicago PME, UC San Diego and LG Energy Solution continues to show that low cost and high performance are not mutually exclusive. In fact, it’s the route we must pursue to create lasting real-world impact.”The research findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
Environment Lithium Lithium Sulfur Battery Solid State Batteries Uchicago PME
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