Realizing High-Performance Li-S Batteries through Additive Manufactured and Chemically Enhanced Cathodes

Numerous efforts are made to improve the reversible capacity and long-term cycling stability of Li-S cathodes. However, they are susceptible to irreversible capacity loss during cycling owing to shuttling effects and poor Li+ transport under high sulfur loading. Herein, a physically and chemically enhanced lithium sulfur cathode is proposed to address these challenges. Additive manufacturing is used to construct numerous microchannels within high sulfur loading cathodes, which enables desirable deposition mechanisms of lithium polysulfides and improves Li+ and e(-) transport. Concurrently, cobalt sulfide is incorporated into the cathode composition and demonstrates strong adsorption behavior toward lithium polysulfides during cycling. As a result, excellent electrochemical performance is obtained by the design of a physically and chemically enhanced lithium sulfur cathode. The reported electrode, with a sulfur loading of 8 mg cm(-2), delivers an initial capacity of 1118.8 mA h g(-1) and a reversible capacity of 771.7 mA h g(-1) after 150 cycles at a current density of 3 mA cm(-2). This work demonstrates that a chemically enhanced sulfur cathode, manufactured through additive manufacturing, is a viable pathway to achieve high-performance Li-S batteries.

Automated summary

The physically and chemically enhanced lithium sulfur cathode proposed in this work, utilizing additive manufacturing to construct microchannels and incorporating cobalt sulfide, demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance under high sulfur loading. This approach shows promise for achieving high-performance Li-S batteries.