Large‐Area Preparation of Crack‐Free Crystalline Microporous Conductive Membrane to Upgrade High Energy Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are appealing candidates for next‐generation high‐energy rechargeable batteries, but practical applications are still limited by poor cyclic life, which is caused by severe polysulfide shuttling in high‐sulfur‐loading batteries. Herein, a facile route is presented to fabricate high‐performance Li–S batteries using a crystalline microporous membrane, which is prepared using a conductive metal–organic framework (MOF) material. With ordered microporous structure, large specific surface area, good sulphiphilicity, and excellent conductivity, the MOF membrane is grown in situ on the commercial separator and is an ideal light‐weight barrier (0.066 mg cm−2) for suppressing the polysulfide shuttling, which can significantly promote the capacities, rate capabilities, and cycling stabilities of Li–S batteries. Taking the advantage of this functional separator, the high‐sulfur‐loading Li–S battery (8.0 mg cm−2 and 70 wt% of sulfur in cathode) delivers a high area capacity of 7.24 mAh cm−2 after 200 cycles, thus providing a promising path toward advanced Li–S batteries.

Single Atom Array Mimic on Ultrathin MOF Nanosheets Boosts the Safety and Life of Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…Based on the UV-vis absorption spectra, the adsorption capacity of the 2D MOF-Co is estimated to be 6.2 mg Li 2 S 6 per 10 mg of host material, higher than those of some typical polysulfide adsorbents (Figure 5d). [30,31] In order to confirm the chemical interaction between the 2D MOF-Co and polysulfides, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed on the pristine and Li 2 S 6 -adsorbed 2D MOF-Co. S 2s, S 2p, and Li 1s XPS peaks appear in the wide-scan XPS spectrum of the Li 2 S 6 -adsorbed 2D MOF-Co ( Figure S23, Supporting Information). The Co 2p XPS peak can be deconvoluted into Co 2p1/2 sat., Co 2p 1/2 , Co 2p 3/2 sat., and Co 2p 3/2 peaks, which are located at 803.3, 797.7, 786.0, and 781.8 eV, respectively (Figure 5e).…”

Metal−Organic Frameworks for High‐Energy Lithium Batteries with Enhanced Safety: Recent Progress and Future Perspectives

“…After Bai et al.’s work above, the research and development of MOF‐based separators have blossomed. For example, Zn(II)‐MOF‐based, Mn‐BTC‐coated, NH 2 ‐MIL‐125(Ti)‐coated, UiO‐66‐NH 2 @SiO 2 ‐coated, electrically conductive Ni 3 (HITP) 2 ‐modified, Ni‐MOF/MWCNT‐coated, and CNT@ZIF‐functionalized separators have been reported to mitigate the shuttle effect by either physical blocking or Lewis acid‐base interactions. However, it is still possible for polysulfides to diffuse through the grain boundaries or voids of the MOF coatings during long‐term cycling, similar to what happens with MOF‐based mixed‐matrix membranes for gas separations.…”

A Highly Conductive MOF of Graphene Analogue Ni3(HITP)2 as a Sulfur Host for High‐Performance Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…[35,36] Specifically, the application of Ni 3 (HITP) 2 to modify the separator by Zang et al in Li-S battery encourages us to further explore their potential application as a sulfur cathode. [37] In this work, we synthesized highly conductive Ni 3 (HITP) 2 via a facile approach and investigated the electrochemical behavior as a sulfur host for Li-S batteries. In order to form matrix electron/ion conduction networks for improving the performance of Li-S batteries, carbon nanotube (CNT) was used as a conductive binder.…”