Main goal

The project aims to develop a proof of concept battery, which can be scaled-up to industrial needs.

Battery of study

Lithium-Sulfur (very high energy density, 3730 Wh/kg_sulfur, low cost, S: 30 US$/ton; however many issues so far limiting the practical relevance).

LISSEN approaches to address the main issues:

– Solubility of polysulphides: development of selected multi-component, ionic liquid–based electrolyte

– Slow kinetics of the sulfur electrode: use of a new nanomorphology, involving homogeneous dispersion of low-size sulfur (or Li₂S ) particles in hard carbon spherules

– Safety concern: replacement of the reactive lithium metal electrode with a Si-C nano composite either pristine (for Li₂S cathode) or lithiated (for S cathode)

LISSEN achievements:

– Preparation of both anode (Si-C) and cathode (S-C) materials has been scaled-up to several g-sized batches, by developing reproducible synthesis procedure

– An advanced polymer electrolyte, combining poly(ethylene oxide) matrix with ionic liquid-based, polysulfide-added solutions, has been optimized to effectively control cathode dissolution

– Electrode preparation procedures adopting the originally developed materials have been addressed and full Li-ion sulfur cells have been realized, reaching scaled configurations with a targeted capacity of 1 Ah.