Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with the Lowest Self-Discharge and the Longest Shelf life

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are promising as a next generation energy-storage device because their energy density is higher than that of current Li-ion technology. However, in comparison to Li-ion batteries, Li-S batteries encounter much faster self-discharge and shorter a shelf life. Unfortunately, the lack of literature against the realities of severe self-discharge makes developing a practically viable Li-S technology a daunting challenge. We present here low self-discharge (LSD) Li-S batteries that have the lowest self-discharge constant of 0.0022 per day and the longest shelf life of one year. The superior electrochemical stability of the LSD Li-S batteries is reflected in a low capacity-fade rate of only 0.14% per day over the extended experimental time period. In addition, an analysis of the Li-S articles investigating the self-discharge effect in the literature reveals that the LSD Li-S batteries presented here offer a greater than 12-fold improvement in the cell shelf life with good cycling stability.