Lithium sulphur battery cathodes: New materials and advanced understanding

锂- s电池以低成本提供高能量密度。不幸的是，与它们的活性材料有关的基本挑战限制了它们的适用性。特别是，必须做的工作是克服锂多硫化物（LiPSs）造成的不可逆容量损失、电极体积膨胀和阳极钝化。对锂- s电池材料性能的更深入的基本理解，以及新的功能电极的结合，将使锂- s电池的工业应用成为可能。在这个项目中，我们将开发高通量技术，同时检测溶液中的LiPSs和电极质量/形态/粘弹性变化。我们还将开发新的功能分层阴极材料，以适应体积变化，促进硫的有效分布。目的：1)开发将生成收集电化学与电化学石英晶体微天平测量相结合的仪器，实现LiPS检测和物质变化分析的同时进行。2)创造具有LiPS捕获功能的新型、高效、高导电性多孔阴极主体，并研究其在Li-S电池中的结构-操作功能关系。3)规模材料开发到袋细胞水平，实现真正的工业验证。要学习的技术包括：材料合成、电化学方法、x射线计算机断层扫描、小角度x射线散射、电子显微镜、原子力显微镜和光谱技术。

Li-S batteries offer high energy densities at low cost. Unfortunately fundamental challenges relating to their active materials limit their applicability. In particular, work must be done to combat irreversible capacity loss, electrode volume expansion and anode passivation due to lithium polysulphides (LiPSs). A combination of greater fundamental understanding of the properties of Li-S battery materials as they operate and new functional electrodes will enable industrial Li-S battery application. In this project we will develop high-throughput techniques to simultaneously detect LiPSs in solution and electrode mass/morphology/viscoelastic changes. We will also develop new functional hierarchical cathode materials to accommodate volume change promote efficient sulphur distribution. Objectives: 1) Develop instrumentation to combine generation-collection electrochemistry with electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements, allowing simultaneous LiPS detection and material change analysis. 2) Create novel, highly efficient, high conductivity porous cathode hosts with LiPS trapping functionality and study their structure-operational function relationships in Li-S batteries. 3) Scale materials developed to pouch-cell level, enabling true industrial verification. Techniques to be learned include: Materials synthesis, electrochemical methods, x-ray computed tomography, small-angle x-ray scattering, electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and spectroscopic techniques.