High-rate and high sulfur-loaded lithium-sulfur batteries with a polypyrrole-coated sulfur cathode on a 3D aluminum foam current collector

In this study, the high-rate performance of high sulfur-loaded cathodes have been demonstrated using a novel battery that comprises of a 3 dimensional aluminum foam (current collector), sulfur (active material), acetylene black (conductive additive), and polypyrrole (PPy) coating. Consequently, a stacked laminated cell was prepared, which comprised of two 70 × 70 mm² PPy-sulfur/ketjen black sheets (sulfur-loading = 4.3 mg/cm²), 1 M lithium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) with dimethoxyethane (DME) and 1,3-dioxolane (DOL), (DME/DOL = 1/1 vol%), and three Li foils as the cathodes, electrolyte, and anodes, respectively. The 1 M LiTFSI DME/DOL electrolyte, which is suitable for high rate, is applicable because the PPy coating suppresses dissolution of polysulfide into the electrolyte. The discharge capacities were 462 mAh (1075 mAh/g sulfur) at 0.4C (267 mA) and 251 mAh (583 mAh/g-sulfur) at 3.8C (2670 mA). An enhanced conductive path was formed in the cathode by the 3D Al foam and AB, which considerably improved the high-rate performance. This demonstration is particularly significant from the viewpoint of commercializing the high-power output and high-energy–density Li-S batteries for industrial applications such as small mobile device and drone power source.