Diffusional Features of a Lithium-Sulfur Battery Exploiting Highly Microporous Activated Carbon

Diffusion processes at the electrode/electrolyte interphase drives the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, and activated carbon (AC) can remarkably vehicle ions and polysulfide species throughout the two-side liquid/solid region of the interphase. We reveal original findings such as the values of the diffusion coefficient at various states of charge of a Li-S battery using a highly porous AC, its notable dependence on the adopted techniques, and the correlation of the diffusion trend with the reaction mechanism. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) are used to identify in the carbon derived from bioresidues heteroatoms such as N, S, O and P, which can increase the polarity of the C framework. The transport properties are measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT). The study reveals Li+-diffusion coefficient (D-Li(+)) depending on the technique, and values correlated with the cell state of charge. EIS, CV, and GITT yield a D-Li(+) within 10(-7)-10(-8) cm(2) s(-1), 10(-8)-10(-9) cm(2) s(-1), and 10(-6)-10(-12) cm(2) s(-1), respectively, dropping down at the fully discharged state and increasing upon charge. GITT allows the evaluation of D-Li(+) during the process and evidences the formation of low-conducting media upon discharge. The sulfur composite delivers in a Li-cell a specific capacity ranging from 1300 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 C to 700 mAh g(-1) at 2C with a S loading of 2 mg cm(-2), and from 1000 to 800 mAh g(-1) at 0.2C when the S loading is raised to 6 mg cm(-2).