Sulfur-carbon nanocomposites and their application as cathode materials in lithium-sulfur batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9722245-B2
Application number	US-201514687385-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2015
Priority date	Sep 2, 2009
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

The invention is directed in a first aspect to a sulfur-carbon composite material comprising: (i) a bimodal porous carbon component containing therein a first mode of pores which are mesopores, and a second mode of pores which are micropores; and (ii) elemental sulfur contained in at least a portion of said micropores. The invention is also directed to the aforesaid sulfur-carbon composite as a layer on a current collector material; a lithium ion battery containing the sulfur-carbon composite in a cathode therein; as well as a method for preparing the sulfur-composite material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of preparing a sulfur-carbon composite material for a cathodic material in a lithium ion battery, the method comprising:
(i) impregnating a bimodal porous carbon component with a solution of elemental sulfur, wherein said bimodal porous carbon component contains a first mode of pores which are mesopores, and a second mode of pores which are micropores; and
(ii) annealing the sulfur-impregnated bimodal porous carbon component under an inert atmosphere;
wherein the resulting sulfur-carbon composite comprises: (i) said bimodal porous carbon component containing therein a first mode of pores which are mesopores, and a second mode of pores which are micropores, and (ii) elemental sulfur contained in at least a portion of said micropores; and
wherein at least 60 vol % of the micropores in the resulting sulfur-carbon composite is occupied by elemental sulfur while no more than 5 vol % of the mesopores is occupied by elemental sulfur.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solution of elemental sulfur contains carbon disulfide as a solvent.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 10% and no more than 90% of the pore volume of the bimodal porous carbon component is attributable to micropores.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 20% and no more than 90% of the pore volume of the bimodal porous carbon component is attributable to micropores.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 70 vol % of the micropores in the resulting sulfur-carbon composite is occupied by elemental sulfur while no more than 5 vol % of the mesopores is occupied by elemental sulfur.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 80 vol % of the micropores in the resulting sulfur-carbon composite is occupied by elemental sulfur while no more than 5 vol % of the mesopores is occupied by elemental sulfur.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 90 vol % of the micropores in the resulting sulfur-carbon composite is occupied by elemental sulfur while no more than 5 vol % of the mesopores is occupied by elemental sulfur.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the micropores in the resulting sulfur-carbon composite are completely occupied by elemental sulfur while no more than 10 vol % of the mesopores are occupied by elemental sulfur.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the micropores in the resulting sulfur-carbon composite are completely occupied by elemental sulfur while no more than 5 vol % of the mesopores are occupied by elemental sulfur.

Assignees

• Ut Battelle Llc

Inventors

• Liang Chengdu
• Dudney Nancy J
• Howe Jane Y

Classifications

• H01M4/136

  Electrodes based on inorganic compounds other than oxides or hydroxides, e.g. sulfides, selenides, tellurides, halogenides or LiCoFy · CPC title

• H01M4/5815 Primary

  Sulfides · CPC title

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title

• Y02E60/122

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01M4/581

  Chalcogenides or intercalation compounds thereof · CPC title