Porous radical organic framework improves lithium-sulfur batteries

A team led by Prof. Yan Lu, HZB, and Prof. Arne Thomas, Technical University of Berlin, has developed a material that enhances the capacity and stability of lithium-sulfur batteries. The material is based on polymers that form a framework with open pores (known as radical-cationic covalent organic frameworks or COFs). Catalytically accelerated reactions take place in these pores, firmly trapping polysulfides, which would shorten the battery life.

Some of the experimental analyses were conducted at the BAMline at BESSY II. The research is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Crystalline framework structures made of organic polymers are a particularly interesting class of materials. They are characterized by their high porosity, comparable to a sponge, but with pores measuring only a few micrometers at most. These materials can exhibit special functionalities, which make them interesting for certain applications in electrochemical energy storage devices.

For example, they could act as “hosts” for sulfur compounds such as polysulfides in the electrodes of lithium-sulfur batteries. The idea is that the polysulfides could bind to the inner surfaces of pores in the COF structures and react there to generate elemental sulfur again. However, this has not yet worked properly.

Newly developed COF

The team has demonstrated a major advance with the new material, which consists of tetrathiafulvalene units ([TTF]₂^•+) and trisulfide radical anions (S₃^•-) connected via benzothiazole (R-TTF^•+-COF

“Unpaired electrons play an important role in the micro/mesopores of COFs,” explains Prof. Lu. “They contribute to delocalized π orbitals, which facilitates charge transfer between the layers and thus improves the catalytic properties.”

Combination of experiments

In the highly complex study, the team has elucidated the central role of radical motifs in catalyzing the sulfur reduction reactions.

For the study, the researchers investigated the COF materials in Li-S battery cells using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy, electron spin resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and also performed in situ X-ray tomography at the BAMline at BESSY II to characterize the pores inside more precisely. They combined these experimental results with theoretical calculations to interpret the results.

“This allowed us to show that the radical cations [TTF]₂^•+ act as catalytic centers that bind LiPSs and facilitate the elongation and cleavage of the S−S bonds,” says Sijia Cao, a Ph.D. student on Prof. Lu’s team.

Significant improvement

The result is amazing: The performance of the Li-S battery improves significantly with the use of the new R-TTF^•+-COF material. The service life of Li-S batteries thus increases to over 1,500 cycles with a capacity loss of only 0.027% per cycle. This durability of Li-S batteries has not yet been achieved with COF materials or other purely organic catalysts. Typically, Li-S batteries exhibit less than 1,000 cycles, according to reports from the past few years.

“Integrating such radical scaffold structures into lithium-sulfur batteries shows great promise,” says Prof. Lu. In addition, there is a wide range of possibilities for further optimization. The electronic properties of the scaffold and the catalytic activity change depending on which molecules are used as radicals. Nevertheless, further research is needed into COFs with stable radical building blocks that are specifically tailored for catalyzing sulfur reduction reactions.