Nanostructured titanium nitride as a novel cathode for high performance lithium/dissolved polysulfide batteries

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries could potentially revolutionize the rechargeable battery market due to their high energy density and low cost. However, low active material utilization, electrode volumetric expansion and a high rate of capacity fade due to the dissolution of lithium polysulfide intermediates in the liquid electrolyte are the main challenges facing further Li-S battery development. Here, we enhanced Li-S batteries active material utilization and decreased the volumetric expansion by using the lithium/dissolved polysulfide configuration. Moreover, a novel class of cathode materials, Titanium Nitride (TiN), was developed for polysulfide conversion reactions. The surface chemical environment of the TiN has been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The existence of S-TiN bonding at the cathode electrode surface was observed, which indicates the strong interactions between TiN and polysulfides. Therefore, the TiN electrode retains the sulfur species on the cathode surface, minimizing the active material and surface area loss and consequently, improves the capacity retention. The resultant cells demonstrated a high initial capacity of 1,524 mAh g-1 and a good capacity retention for 100 cycles at a C/10 current rate.

Cathode Framework of Nanostructured Titanium Nitride/Graphene for Advanced Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…The crystal structure of the TiN nanoparticles, nanotubes and their composites with graphene nanoplatelets were further examined by X‐ray diffraction (Figure a). The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) spectra of the prepared TiN with five diffraction peaks at around 37°, 43°, 62°, 74.5°, and 88.5°, corresponding to the TiN (111), (200), (220), (311) and (222) crystal planes, respectively . There is no observable difference in the diffraction spectra of TiN nanotube and nanoparticle.…”

“…Titanium oxide nano‐powder (TiO 2 , 100 nm size, US Research Nanomaterials) was utilized as precursor. The procedure to synthesize TiN nanoparticles has been described elsewhere . The fabrication procedure of a composite of TiN nanoparticles with graphene follows the same procedure of composite fabrication of TiN nanotubes with graphene, with a mass ratio of 1 : 1, as described earlier.…”

“…This is the first TiN nanotube/graphene nanostructure study which demonstrates significantly better electrochemical performance than previously reported 3‐D nanostructures with TiN nanowires, carbon nanowires, and carbon nanotubes. TiN nanotubes, compared to carbon nanotubes, could serve as a more efficiently cathode framework since it is not only with better chemisorption effect but also maintain a high conductivity and structural stability …”

Synthesis and Photo‐Thermal Conversion Properties of Hierarchical Titanium Nitride Nanotube Mesh for Solar Water Evaporation

“…There are many advantages of HTNM as PTC material because of its excellent chemical stability, high melting point, economical price, low toxicity, large specific surface area, high heat conduction, and strong light absorption independent of the direction of the sun light. [28][29][30][31]…”

Highly Reversible Lithium Polysulfide Semiliquid Battery with Nitrogen‐Rich Carbon Fiber Electrodes

“…However, the results are still unsatisfactory because of either low initial capacity or poor cycling efficiency. [13] In this work, we developed alithium-sulfur semiliquid battery with the foregoing lithiump olysulfide configuration that uses af ree-standing nitrogen-richc arbon fiber (NCF) substrate saturated with lithium polysulfide solution as the cathode ( Figure 1a). Owing to the strong affinities between the N-dopedc arbon and the polysulfides, [14] the NCF webs designed here serve as ac onductiven etwork for lithium ions and electron transport and also effectively eliminate the shuttle effects of polysulfides.…”