Fu Xuewei, Li Chunhui, Wang Yu, Scudiero Louis, Liu Jin, Zhong Wei-Hong
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering , Washington State University , Pullman , Washington 99164 , United States.
Department of Chemistry , Washington State University , Pullman , Washington 99164 , United States.
J Phys Chem Lett. 2018 May 17;9(10):2450-2459. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00836. Epub 2018 Apr 26.
The diffusion of polysulfides in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries represents a critical issue deteriorating the electrochemical performance. Here, borrowing the concepts from air filtration, we design and fabricate a protein-based nanofilter for effectively trapping polysulfides but facilitating Li transport. The unique porous structures are formed through a protein-directed self-assembly process, and the surfaces are functionalized by the protein residues. The experiments and molecular simulation results demonstrate that our polysulfide nanofilter can effectively trap the dissolved polysulfides and promote Li transport in Li-S batteries. When the polysulfide nanofilter is added in a Li-S battery, the electrochemical performance of the battery is significantly improved. Moreover, the contribution of the protein nanofilter to the ion transport is further analyzed by correlating filter properties and battery performance. This study is of universal significance for the understanding, design, and fabrication of advanced battery interlayers that can help realize good management of the ion transport inside advanced energy storage devices.
多硫化物在锂硫（Li-S）电池中的扩散是一个严重影响其电化学性能的关键问题。在此，借鉴空气过滤的概念，我们设计并制造了一种基于蛋白质的纳米过滤器，用于有效捕获多硫化物但促进锂离子传输。独特的多孔结构通过蛋白质导向的自组装过程形成，其表面由蛋白质残基功能化。实验和分子模拟结果表明，我们的多硫化物纳米过滤器能够有效捕获溶解的多硫化物并促进Li-S电池中的锂离子传输。当将多硫化物纳米过滤器添加到Li-S电池中时，电池的电化学性能得到显著改善。此外，通过关联过滤器特性和电池性能，进一步分析了蛋白质纳米过滤器对离子传输的贡献。这项研究对于理解、设计和制造先进的电池中间层具有普遍意义，有助于实现先进储能装置内部离子传输的良好管理。
