Lithium-sulfur battery and methods of preventing insoluble solid lithium-polysulfide deposition
AssigneeEaglepicher Technologies, LLC
InventorsRamanathan THILLAIYAN, Wujun FU, Mario DESTEPHEN, Greg MILLER, Ernest NDZEBET, Umamaheswari JANAKIRAMAN
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Abstract
An improved lithium-sulfur battery containing a surface-functionalized carbonaceous material. The presence of the surface-functionalized carbonaceous material generates weak chemical bonds between the functional groups of the surface-functionalized carbonaceous material and the functional groups of the polysulfides, which prevents the polysulfide migration to the battery anode, thereby providing a battery with relatively high energy density and good partial discharge efficiency.
Claims37
A non-aqueous lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell, comprising:
- an anode including an anode material comprising lithium;
- a cathode including a cathode material comprising sulfur;
- a separator disposed between the anode and the cathode;
- a non-aqueous electrolyte which is in fluid communication with the anode, the cathode, and the separator;
- and
- a layer containing a surface-functionalized carbonaceous material disposed between the anode and the cathode.
A method of charging a lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell, comprising:
- supplying electrical energy to the lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell at a constant current;
- monitoring the voltage during charging;
- and
- terminating the charge when the monitored voltage is in a range of about 2.4 volts to about 3.0 volts,
- the lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell comprising:
- an anode including an anode material comprising lithium;
- a cathode including a cathode material comprising sulfur;
- a separator disposed between the anode and the cathode;
- a non-aqueous electrolyte which is in fluid communication with the anode, the cathode, and the separator;
- and
- a layer containing a surface-functionalized carbonaceous material disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein functional groups of the surface-functionalized carbonaceous material interact with functional groups of polysulfides and slow the rate of migration of the polysulfides.
(canceled)
A method for manufacturing a non-aqueous lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell, comprising:
- introducing a surface-functionalized carbonaceous material into the non-aqueous lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell, wherein the surface-functionalized carbonaceous material is a carbonaceous material functionalized with chemical moieties that are capable of interacting with and non-covalently bonding polysulfides to the carbonaceous material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.