High-Energy, High-Performance Li-S Battery with Novel 2D- & 3D-Nanostructured Electrodes

Li-ion rechargeable battery dominated in powering a wide variety of commercial and military electronics and electrical devices and systems over the last few decades. However, it cannot meet the high-energy and high-performance (HE/HP) requirements of the present and future devices and systems, especially for military applications. Although countless R&D and commercialization attempts have been made for the next generation HE/HP battery, we have not yet broken through the limitation of the Li-ion battery while the demand for the next generation battery grows as each day goes by. Our objective is to develop and demonstrate a novel high-energy (> 600 Whr/kg at the 0.5C rate) rechargeable battery technology to provide high-performance and high-quality enduring power not only for Navy hand-held portable electronics and small unmanned aerial system (UAS) applications but also for other DoD/Services and commercial applications. We demonstrated the breakthroughs and the solutions for the well-known intrinsic issues of conventional Li-S batteries, such as Li-dendrite growth, polysulfides shuttling, electrolyte consumption caused by the reaction of electrolyte and materials. We also have made a steady Li-S technology advancement and already demonstrated the energy density of > 500 Whr/kg along with other key performance parameters. Therefore, we propose to continue advancing our novel Li-S battery technologies during the project period by (1) optimizing our current nanomaterial coated Li-metal anode, catalysts-deposited 3D carbon nanotube fiber Sulfur (CNF-S) cathode, and semi-solid electrolyte; (2) designing the optimized full cell including scalable electrodes design and fabrication processes; and (3) fabricating the full cell professionally to test, evaluate, analyze and characterize and also importantly demonstrating the prototype next generation Li-S battery. The results from Phase I effort will provide us with a significant insight toward the initial step toward productizing the next generation Li-S rechargeable battery as well as the confidence entering into Phase II, moving us toward its commercialization to benefit Navy, other DoD/Services and commercial applications.