The Importance of Swelling Effects on Cathode Density and Electrochemical Performance of Lithium−Sulfur Battery Cathodes Produced via Dry Processing

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Florian Schmidt - , Chair of Inorganic Chemistry I, Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Author)
  • Sebastian Ehrling - , Chair of Inorganic Chemistry I, 3P INSTRUMENTS GmbH & Co. KG (Author)
  • Kay Schönherr - , Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Author)
  • Susanne Dörfler - , Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Author)
  • Thomas Abendroth - , Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Author)
  • Holger Althues - , Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Author)
  • Stefan Kaskel - , Chair of Inorganic Chemistry I, Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Author)

Abstract

Lithium−sulfur batteries are promising candidates to satisfy the growing demand for high gravimetric, as well as high volumetric energy density batteries, due to their abundant and cost-efficient raw-materials. Consequently, this cell system has become an active subject of academic and industrial research. Therefore, new records for gravimetric, as well as volumetric energy densities have been reported in recent years. To further increase the volumetric energy density of the cells, the electrodes are often densified. Hence, the influence of the cathode density on the performance of lithium−sulfur batteries is still not fully understood. Herein, dry-processed (DRYtraec) sulfur carbon cathodes with varying electrode densities are tested with ether-based electrolytes under lean electrolyte (5 μL mg(s)−1) conditions. The electrochemical evaluation reveals that the density does not influence the performance of the cathodes at coin-cell level as their density is altered upon electrolyte contact due to swelling. To monitor this, dynamic swelling experiments via confocal microscopy are conducted. Subsequently, the findings are transferred to investigate the influence of cathode swelling on the volumetric energy density. The influence of cathode swelling on the volumetric energy density of pouch cells is calculated based on the cathodes investigated at coin-cell level.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2100721
JournalEnergy technology
Volume10
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • batteries, cathodes, dry powder coating, lithium, solvent free electrodes, sulfur

Library keywords