Improving Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Performance with Coaxial Nanotubes

A researcher’s team working at the University of Texas recently discovered that usage of coaxial nanotubes can play a key role in improvement of lithium-sulfur batteries performance. The team recently described in a famous journal how Polypyrrole MnO2 coaxial nanotubes can be used to get over obstacles that occur during utilization of Li-S batteries commercial applications. Previous researches have shown that such batteries would only offer the electronics users better energy storage which will be five time of the regular lithium-ion batteries. These may also help in cost controlling as sulphur can be derived in abundance through simple processes. It is also an eco-friendly method that will keep surroundings safe.

However, these batteries have faced several major level challenges like the “shuttle effect”. Under this challenge the polysulfides move through the cathode and lead to problems in electrolytes, these also move through electrode that leads to depletion in sulfur amount as the battery gets charged a few more times. The new initiative overcomes these problems through introduction of PPy-MnO2 nanotubes in the design that encapsulates the electrodes. Addition of nanotubes plays a key role in reducing the shuttle effect and solves the problem of low conductivity of lithium sulfide.

The research team reported its testing of LI-S batteries which demonstrated presence of 98.6 Columbic efficiency. Even when the battery was recharged for 500 times the depletion rate remained quite above 500 mAh/g staying in the stable zone. The team also notes that the initial findings help in improving Li-S batteries performance, there are a few more challenges that need to be resolved before these batteries are used for devices. The biggest one among those is the “dendrite effect”. It occurs when lithium branches come out of battery separator leading to explosion as well as short circuits. The team intends to use some other kinds of electrolytes that will use LiS2 as partial cathode and might get paired with anodes that are formed of other substances like graphite, tin, or silicon.