Mass transfer of polysulfide ions in composite hierarchical porous carbon materials and its effect on electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries

The research project “Mass transfer of polysulfide ions in composite hierarchical porous carbon materials and its effect on electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries” is driven by the stringent need of high energy and power density rechargeable batteries for electrical vehicles and electric energy storage systems.
Aiming at the notorious “shuttle effect” of soluble polysulfide ions, which causes the performance degradation of the lithium-sulfur battery, this research intends to study the key factors affecting the mass transfer process of the polysulfide ions in the composite carbon material, analyze the Structure-Activity Relationship between the structure of composite carbon material and the cathode electrode reaction in lithium-sulfur battery, and find the efficient method to design and synthesize composite nanoporous carbon material to catalyze and adsorb polysulfide. Finally, the problems of low power, poor cycle stability, serious self-discharge and other issues in lithium-sulfur battery can be solved and high-performance lithium-sulfur battery system will be built.

Supervisors

Prof. dr. Yutao Pei, Dr. Ajay Kottapalli

PhD student

Yinyu Xiang