Commercial Cellulosic Paper-Based Solid Electrolyte for High-Temperature Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Energy Storage

Background:

• Solid-state lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries offer high energy density for electric mobility.
• Challenges include high impedance, polysulfide shuttling, and dendrite formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a stable and scalable solid-state electrolyte (SSE) for Li-S batteries.
• To address key limitations hindering practical Li-S battery applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a Li-rich cellulosic SSE using a scalable method.
• Electrochemical characterization of the SSE with a sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) cathode.
• Testing of Li-S cells (half and full) at room temperature and 50 °C.

Main Results:

• The cellulosic SSE demonstrated high area-normalized conductance (24.4 mS cm⁻²) and Li-ion transference number (0.76) at 50 °C.
• Solid-state Li-S half cells retained 82.2% capacity after 150 cycles at 50 °C.
• Full cells exhibited stable cycling for ~40 cycles at room temperature and 50 °C due to SSE conformability.

Conclusions:

• The developed Li-rich cellulosic SSE enables durable Li-S batteries.
• This material is a promising candidate for room-temperature to 50 °C operation in electric mobility.
• The findings position this work among leading SPAN-based all-solid-state Li-S battery research.