The development of renewable energy and ecological transport demands high energy density rechargeable batteries. Conventional battery technologies suffer from high cost, toxicity and performance limitations such as low capacity and capacity fading. Therefore, development of novel economically feasible high performance batteries is crucial for wider use and application of sustainable energy supply and electric vehicles. Lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries have the highest energy density among all known systems [1], and therefore are promising as the next generation batteries. However, these systems have disadvantages related to low conductivity of sulfur and its dissolution and shuttle during the battery operation.

Mosby and Prieto have demonstrated an innovative concept of economically feasible three-dimensional (3D) battery manufacturing concept [2]. The aim of our work is to develop an innovative battery by combining 3D battery architecture with outstanding performance of Li/S technology. In the current work focus was to construct a safe three-dimensional battery with high energy efficiency and stable cycling. Here we show that consistent progress has been achieved and three-dimensional anode was prepared: Ni₃Sn₄ alloys were successfully electrodeposited on nickel foam and their structural and electrochemical properties were examined. This 3D battery architecture will be combined with the Li/S battery technology, which will allow to overcome the large volume changes in the anode by making nano-sized anode crystals and tightly connecting these crystals to the 3D current collector. Sulfur cathode, which is converted into soluble catholite during charging/discharging, can be impregnated into the 3D architecture more easily than conventional cathode materials. This system is promising as a potential electric vehicle battery and the energy storage system for renewable energy sources.

Reference

[1] Y. Zhang, Y. Zhao, Z. Bakenov, “A novel lithium/sulfur battery based on sulfur/graphene nanosheet composite cathode and gel polymer electrolyte,” Nanoscale Res. Lett., 2014, 137.

[2] J. Mosby, L. Prieto, “Direct electrodeposition of Cu₂Sb for lithium-ion battery anodes,” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 10656-10661.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the research grant #4649/GF4 “Development of economically feasible three-dimensional lithium/sulfur battery” from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.