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Nanomaterials
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Sulfur Based Nanomaterials for Secondary Batteries
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Sulfur Based Nanomaterials for Secondary Batteries

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy and Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 8411

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mauro Francesco Sgroi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Materials Engineering, Methods and Tools, Centro Ricerche FIAT, Strada Torino 50, 10043 Orbassano, Italy
Interests: Li-ion batteries; nanomaterials; density functional theory; molecular dynamics; electrochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Carlotta Francia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Electrochemistry Group, Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: Li-ion battery; post Li-ion battery; electrochemistry; electrocatalysts; nanomaterials; carbons

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Secondary batteries based on alkaline or alkaline-earth metal ions are promising candidates as energy storage systems for stationary, automotive and portable applications. The most important characteristics for these types of devices are energy and power densities, safety and cost. The electrode and electrolyte materials play a major role in determining the performance of each battery technology.

Sulfur is intensively investigated as a cathode material for alkaline-based rechargeable electrochemical cells due to its large theoretical specific capacity, abundance, and low environmental impact and cost. Many problems have to be solved in order to improve the technology readiness and the performances of Li-S cells, including the low conductivity of sulfur and Li-polysulfide shuttling in the electrolyte. The main approaches to solving these issues are related to the production of nanocomposite electrodes in which sulfur is encapsulated in a conductive matrix.

Moreover, transition metal sulfides are already widely applied as high-capacity cathodes in primary batteries, and represent a promising alternative to transition metal oxides cathodes thanks to the potential high capacity.

Finally, sulfide-based electrolytes show great potential as solid-state electrolytes thanks to their very high ionic conductivity at ambient temperature. This characteristic is counter-balanced by the low stability, high reactivity with water and potential safety issues. For this reason, further research efforts are needed in this field.

In addition to the potential applications in the battery field, sulfur-based materials are characterized by fascinating chemical-physical properties that make them attractive for other fields such as lubrication, electronics, and catalysis.

This special issue will focus on the synthesis, functionalization, characterization, chemical and physical properties, application, theory, and modeling of sulfur-based nanostructured materials for secondary batteries. The Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent and forthcoming progress in the field. It will help researchers working on rechargeable batteries to orient in the waste production that is possible to find in the literature.

We invite interested authors to submit their original experimental, theoretical and review papers focusing on the subject for inclusion in this Special issue.

Dr. Mauro Francesco Sgroi
Dr. Carlotta Francia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sulfur cathodes
  • transition Metal Sulfides
  • Li-S batteries
  • Mg-batteries
  • K-batteries
  • Na-batteries
  • Li polysulfides
  • shuttling mechanism

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3612 KiB  
Article
Computational Understanding of Delithiation, Overlithiation, and Transport Properties in Disordered Cubic Rock-Salt Type Li2TiS3
by Riccardo Rocca, Mauro Francesco Sgroi, Maddalena D’amore, Nello Li Pira and Anna Maria Ferrari
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(23), 3013; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13233013 - 24 Nov 2023
Viewed by 776
Abstract
Lithium–titanium–sulfur cathodes have gained attention because of their unique properties and have been studied for their application in lithium-ion batteries. They offer different advantages such as lower cost, higher safety, and higher energy density with respect to commonly adopted transition metal oxides. Moreover, [...] Read more.
Lithium–titanium–sulfur cathodes have gained attention because of their unique properties and have been studied for their application in lithium-ion batteries. They offer different advantages such as lower cost, higher safety, and higher energy density with respect to commonly adopted transition metal oxides. Moreover, this family of compounds is free from critical raw materials such as cobalt and nickel. For cathode materials, a crucial aspect is evaluating the evolution and behavior of the structure and properties during the cycling process, which means simulating the system under lithium extraction and insertion. Structural optimization, electronic band structures, density of states, and Raman spectra were simulated, looking for fingerprints and peculiar aspects related to the delithiation and overlithiation process. Lithium transport properties were also investigated through the nudged elastic band methodology. This allowed us to evaluate the diffusion coefficient of lithium, which is a crucial parameter for cathode performance evaluation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Based Nanomaterials for Secondary Batteries)
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19 pages, 19649 KiB  
Article
Reduced Graphene Oxide Embedded with ZnS Nanoparticles as Catalytic Cathodic Material for Li-S Batteries
by Roberto Colombo, Daniele Versaci, Julia Amici, Federico Bella, Maria Laura Para, Nadia Garino, Marco Laurenti, Silvia Bodoardo and Carlotta Francia
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(14), 2149; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13142149 - 24 Jul 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1426
Abstract
Lithium-sulfur technology is a strong candidate for the future generation of batteries due to its high specific capacity (1675 mAh g−1), low cost, and environmental impact. In this work, we propose a facile and solvent-free microwave synthesis for a composite [...] Read more.
Lithium-sulfur technology is a strong candidate for the future generation of batteries due to its high specific capacity (1675 mAh g−1), low cost, and environmental impact. In this work, we propose a facile and solvent-free microwave synthesis for a composite material based on doped (sulfur and nitrogen) reduced graphene oxide embedded with zinc sulfide nanoparticles (SN-rGO/ZnS) to improve the battery performance. The chemical-physical characterization (XRD, XPS, FESEM, TGA) confirmed the effectiveness of the microwave approach in synthesizing the composite materials and their ability to be loaded with sulfur. The materials were then thoroughly characterized from an electrochemical point of view (cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic cycling, Tafel plot, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and Li2S deposition test); the SN-rGO/ZnS/S8 cathode showed a strong affinity towards polysulfides, thus reducing their loss by diffusion and improving redox kinetics, allowing for faster LiPSs conversion. In terms of performance, the composite-based cathode increased the specific capacity at high rate (1 C) from 517 to 648 mAh g−1. At the same time, more stable behavior was observed at 0.5 C with capacity retention at the 750th cycle, where it was raised from 32.5% to 48.2%, thus confirming the beneficial effect of the heteroatomic doping process and the presence of zinc sulfide nanoparticles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Based Nanomaterials for Secondary Batteries)
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13 pages, 2584 KiB  
Article
Rational Optimization of Cathode Composites for Sulfide-Based All-Solid-State Batteries
by Artur Tron, Raad Hamid, Ningxin Zhang and Alexander Beutl
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(2), 327; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13020327 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3480
Abstract
All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries with argyrodite solid electrolytes have been developed to attain high conductivities of 10−3 S cm−1 in studies aiming at fast ionic conductivity of electrolytes. However, no matter how high the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte, the design of [...] Read more.
All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries with argyrodite solid electrolytes have been developed to attain high conductivities of 10−3 S cm−1 in studies aiming at fast ionic conductivity of electrolytes. However, no matter how high the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte, the design of the cathode composite is often the bottleneck for high performance. Thus, optimization of the composite cathode formulation is of utmost importance. Unfortunately, many reports limit their studies to only a few parameters of the whole electrode formulation. In addition, different measurement setups and testing conditions employed for all-solid-state batteries make a comparison of results from mutually independent studies quite difficult. Therefore, a detailed investigation on different key parameters for preparation of cathodes employed in all-solid-state batteries is presented here. Employing a rational approach for optimization of composite cathodes using solid sulfide electrolytes elucidated the influence of different parameters on the cycling performance. First, powder electrodes made without binders are investigated to optimize several parameters, including the active materials’ particle morphology, the nature and amount of the conductive additive, the particle size of the solid electrolyte, as well as the active material-to-solid electrolyte ratio. Finally, cast electrodes are examined to determine the influence of a binder on cycling performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Based Nanomaterials for Secondary Batteries)
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Graphical abstract

13 pages, 3147 KiB  
Article
Computational Characterization of β-Li3PS4 Solid Electrolyte: From Bulk and Surfaces to Nanocrystals
by Naiara Leticia Marana, Mauro Francesco Sgroi, Lorenzo Maschio, Anna Maria Ferrari, Maddalena D’Amore and Silvia Casassa
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(16), 2795; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12162795 - 15 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2028
Abstract
The all-solid-state lithium-ion battery is a new class of batteries being developed following today’s demand for renewable energy storage, especially for electric cars. The key component of such batteries is the solid-state electrolyte, a technology that promises increased safety and energy density with [...] Read more.
The all-solid-state lithium-ion battery is a new class of batteries being developed following today’s demand for renewable energy storage, especially for electric cars. The key component of such batteries is the solid-state electrolyte, a technology that promises increased safety and energy density with respect to the traditional liquid electrolytes. In this view, β-Li3PS4 is emerging as a good solid-state electrolyte candidate due to its stability and ionic conductivity. Despite the number of recent studies on this material, there is still much to understand about its atomic structure, and in particular its surface, a topic that becomes of key relevance for ionic diffusion and chemical stability in grain borders and contact with the other device components. In this study, we performed a density functional study of the structural and electronic properties of β-Li3PS4 surfaces. Starting from the bulk, we first verified that the thermodynamically stable structure featured slight distortion to the structure. Then, the surfaces were cut along different crystallographic planes and compared with each other. The (100) surface is confirmed as the most stable at T = 298 K, closely followed by (011), (010), and (210). Finally, from the computed surface energies, the Wulff nanocrystals were obtained and it was verified that the growth along the (100) and (011) directions reasonably reproduces the shape of the experimentally observed nanocrystal. With this study, we demonstrate that there are other surfaces besides (100) that are stable and can form interfaces with other components of the battery as well as facilitate the Li-migration according to their porous structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sulfur Based Nanomaterials for Secondary Batteries)
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