Research progress on lithium-sulfur battery separators for different strategies to inhibit the “shuttle effect”

doi:10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2022.0243

Abstract

Abstract:

Lithium-sulfur battery is considered the most promising battery in the field of energy storage in the future due to its high energy density and theoretical specific capacity, rich reserves of elemental sulfur as the primary positive material, and low production cost. However, before its practical application, there are still some technical issues to be addressed, such as poor conductivity of the active material sulfur, cathode volume expansion, the shuttle effect, and other issues that seriously affect the battery's cycle stability, especially the "shuttle effect" caused by the migration of soluble long-chain polysulfide intermediates back and forth between the positive and negative electrodes. As the key inner component of the lithium-sulfur battery, the separator is located between the positive and the negative electrodes and is a crucial barrier to preventing the shuttling of polysulfides. However, although it is essential to design a functional separator to prevent the shuttling of polysulfides to enhance the comprehensive performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, the commercial polyolefin separators on the market have a large pore diameter that makes it simple for polysulfides to pass through, and this type of separator cannot capture polysulfides. The approaches to inhibiting polysulfide shuttle are further divided, according to the interaction between polysulfides and the separator coating, into physical restriction and chemical restriction. The research progress of polypropylene-based and new cellulose-based separators is primarily introduced. Finally, the future development direction of lithium-sulfur battery separator with the function of inhibiting polysulfide shuttle is prospected.

Key words: polyolefin separator, shuttle effect, physical restrictions, chemical restrictions, cellulose separator

CLC Number:

TM 911

Kang MA, Zhihao GAO, Lin LUO, Xin SONG, Zuoqiang DAI, Tian HE, Jianmin ZHANG. Research progress on lithium-sulfur battery separators for different strategies to inhibit the “shuttle effect”[J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2022, 11(11): 3521-3533.

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隔膜涂层材料	硫负载量/(mg/cm²)	隔膜涂层负载量/(mg/cm²)	倍率性能	N次循环数据(mAh/g)/循环周期/ 电流倍率	容量衰减率/%	参考文献
Nafion	0.15	0.7	450/1C	628/500/1	0.08	[11]
Nafion/Super P	0.15	0.15	302/1C	430/250/0.5	0.22	[12]
Nafion/GO	0.053	0.053	570/2C	676/200/0.5	0.18	[13]
MWCNT/SPANI	5	0.56	358/0.6C	913/100/0.06	0.18	[14]
rGO@SL	1.5	0.2	707/2C	523/1000/2	0.026	[16]
S₆^2--VPP	1.0	—	415/5C	840/2000/3	0.012	[17]
MPC	1.55	0.5	—	723/500/0.5	0.081	[19]
MWCNTs	2	0.17	—	621/300/1	0.14	[20]
ACNF	2.1	0.35	—	819/200/0.5	0.13	[21]
CGF	5.3	0.3	1000/2C	800/250/0.5	0.11	[23]
CF	3.1	0.53	539/1.3C	—/800/0.5	0.035	[15]

隔膜涂层材料	硫负载量/(mg/cm²)	隔膜涂层负载量/(mg/cm²)	倍率性能	N次循环数据(mAh/g)/循环次数/ 电流倍率	容量衰减率/%	参考文献
N,P-HC	2.0	0.36	674/1 C	638/900/0.2	0.08	[29]
N,O-CBBC	2.0	0.95	913/1 C	656/600/0.5	0.22	[32]
CoN-CNT/HPC	1.0	0.3	782/2 C	678/500/2	0.18	[33]
Al₂O₃	1.6	—	452/1 C	593/50/0.2	0.18	[36]
CNT/Al₂O₃	1.2	—	812/1 C	760/100/0.2	0.026	[37]
Nb₂O₅-CNT	1.5	0.38	507/5 C	992/100/0.2	0.012	[40]
MnO₂	1.2	—	494/2 C	494/500/0.5	0.081	[39]
rGO@MoS₂	2.0	0.24	615/1 C	368/500/1	0.116	[41]
CNTs /MoS₂	—	—	600/2 C	636/500/1	0.01	[43]
(M-P/P)₁₀	1.2	0.1	766/3 C	423/2000/1	0.13	[44]
LDH@NG	1.2	0.3	709/2 C	337/1000/2	0.11	[47]
ZnS-SnS@NC	2.2	—	661/10 C	632/2000/4	0.013	[46]
TiB₂	1.5	0.88	700/5 C	850/300/0.5	0.05	[48]
ZnS@WCF	1.0	—	806/2 C	685/600/1	0.045	[45]

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