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Updated: May 6, 2026

Construction and Testing of Coin Cells of Lithium Ion Batteries
Published on: August 2, 2012
Combating Phase Segregation in Earth-Abundant Pyrite Cathodes for High-Energy-Density Lithium-Metal Batteries
Hongyu Liu1,2, Hao Wang1, Peng Gao3
1School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
Abstract:
The pursuit of sustainable electrification calls for advanced batteries that deliver high energy density, intrinsic safety, and a sustainable material supply. Conversion-type chemistries enable multielectron transfer and high energy density, yet their reversibility is fundamentally limited by phase segregation of conversion products, driven by agglomeration-induced deactivation and the dissolution of soluble intermediates. In this work, we overcome this central bottleneck in the natural pyrite (FeS2) by introducing a partitioned ionic-cluster electrolyte. This tailored chemical environment suppresses polysulfide dissolution, resulting in a homogeneous nanoscale phase distribution during cycling. Such suppression of phase segregation enables the pyrite cathode to deliver a specific energy of ∼1300 Wh kg-1 over 500 cycles and to retain 72.4% of its capacity after 10,000 cycles at 10C. Moreover, scalable pouch cells demonstrate a competitive energy density of 511 Wh kg-1 and intrinsic safety after nail penetration. This study highlights that electrolyte-enabled phase-segregation suppression is crucial for unlocking the practical potential of earth-abundant conversion-type electrodes.
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