Development of stable lithium metal anode systems for high energy density lithium-sulfur batteries

锂硫电池（li -硫电池）是最有希望取代传统锂离子电池技术的竞争者之一，因为它们具有潜在的低成本、高质量比能量和更可持续的生产。虽然在过去的5-10年里，在实现这些优势方面取得了重大进展，但Li-S技术仍受到许多挑战的阻碍，这些挑战需要解决，才能使其成功商业化。其中一些挑战，如硫的电绝缘性、S转化为Li2S时的大体积变化以及转化过程中中间体的溶解度，可以通过使用高表面积石墨烯基添加剂（NanoXplore大规模生产的材料）等先进复合材料来抑制。然而，与锂金属阳极快速降解相关的挑战仍有待解决。****提议的合作研究计划的目标是解决与高活性锂金属阳极相关的挑战。该团队试图开发一种石墨烯增强的玻璃碳夹层，将活性阳极与电解质分开。这种选择性透膜将促进锂离子在阳极和电解质之间的快速运输，防止电解质与锂金属直接反应。该项目的成功有望使可充电电池的重量轻3到4倍，但含有相同的能量。这将扩大各种技术的范围，如无人机、电动飞机和电动汽车，这些技术都将从减轻重量中受益匪浅。它还将通过使用丰富而廉价的硫作为阴极材料来降低电池成本，并减少我们对不道德的钴开采实践的依赖。从加拿大石墨中提取的石墨烯的大量应用将带来显着的经济增长，而电动汽车等绿色技术的进一步实现也将带来环境效益，这将在加拿大各地感受到。******

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are one of the most promising contenders to replace conventional Li-ion battery technology due to their potentially low cost, high mass-specific energy, and more sustainable production. While significant progress has been made in the last 5-10 years towards realizing these advantages, Li-S technology is hampered by many challenges that need to be addressed to enable their successful commercialization. Several of these challenges such as the electrically insulating nature of sulfur, the large volume change upon conversion of S to Li2S and the solubility of intermediates during this conversion can be suppressed by creating advanced composite materials including the use of high surface area graphene-based additives - A material which NanoXplore produces at scale. However challenges associated with the rapid degradation of the lithium metal anode remain to be solved.****The goal of the proposed collaborative research program is to address the challenges associated with highly reactive lithium metal anode. The team seeks to develop a graphene-reinforced glassy carbon interlayer that separates the reactive anode from the electrolyte. This selectively permeable membrane will facilitate the rapid transport of Li-ions between the anode and electrolyte preventing the electrolyte from reacting with the Li metal directly. The success of this project is expected to lead to rechargeable batteries that are 3 to 4 times lighter but contain the same amount of energy. This would extend the range of various technologies such as areal drones, electric aircraft, and electric vehicles that benefit significantly from reduced weight. It will also decrease battery costs by using abundant and inexpensive sulfur as the cathode material and decrease our reliance on unethical cobalt mining practices. The use of graphene derived from Canadian graphite in high volume applications will lead to significant economic growth, while the further enabling of green technologies such as electric vehicles will also lead to environmental benefits that will be felt across Canada.******