A Flexible All-in-One Lithium-Sulfur Battery

ACS Nano. 2018 Dec 26;12(12):12503-12511. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b06936. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Abstract

The recent boom in flexible and wearable electronic devices has increased the demand for flexible energy storage devices. The flexible lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is considered to be a promising candidate due to its high energy density and low cost. Herein, a flexible Li-S battery was fabricated based on an all-in-one integrated configuration, where a multiwalled carbon nanotubes/sulfur (MWCNTs/S) cathode, MWCNTs/manganese dioxide (MnO2) interlayer, polypropylene (PP) separator, and Li anode were integrated together by combining blade coating with vacuum evaporation methods. Each component of the all-in-one structure can be seamlessly connected with the neighboring layers. Such an optimal interfacial connection can effectively enhance electron- and/or load-transfer capacity by avoiding the relative displacement or detachment between two neighboring components at bending strain. Therefore, the flexible all-in-one Li-S batteries display fast electrochemical kinetics and have stable electrochemical performance under different bending states.

Keywords: all-in-one; carbon nanotubes; flexible; integrated; lithium-sulfur battery.