High-Performance, Long-Lifetime Catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis Final Report Period Covering April 22, 2013 to April 21, 2015
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Riera-Smith, Michael.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
This project aims to develop safe, reliable, and low-cost Li-S batteries with high energy density and long cycle life. Two approaches have been used to realize this purpose. One is the adaptation of extremely high-surface-area carbon substrates to confine sulfur in their optimal nano-pores. A superionic conductor has also been developed to further improve the cycle life of the Li-S batteries. The developed Li-S cells demonstrated significantly improved energy density and cycle life. The composite cathodes effectively inhibited the polysulfide shuttle mechanism and provided appropriate elasticity for sulfur lithiation, enabling Li-S cells to retain more than 70% of initial discharge capacity after 300 cycles. Moreover, These cathodes proved to have confined an extremely high loading of sulfur, significantly improving specific energy to more than 300 Wh/kg (on a basis of active cell components). In addition, the Li-S cells are able to operate at high charge/discharge rate (1 C), directly promoting their power density. The proposed project has led to great improvements in energy/power density and cycle life of Li-S batteries. Meanwhile, the low prices of Li-S batteries make them more commercially viable in comparison to lithium ion batteries. This is significant because high energy density, long cycle life and low cost will enable Li-S batteries to power automotive vehicles and public transit systems.