Single-step laser printing supercharges high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries

A analysis crew has developed an progressive single-step laser printing method to speed up the manufacturing of lithium-sulfur batteries. Integrating the generally time-consuming energetic supplies synthesis and cathode preparation in a nanosecond-scale laser-induced conversion course of, this system is about to revolutionize the longer term industrial manufacturing of printable electrochemical vitality storage gadgets. The crew was led by Prof. Mitch Li Guijun, Assistant Professor from the Division of Integrative Techniques and Design on the Hong Kong College of Science and Know-how (HKUST).

The findings of this research are published within the journal Nature Communications.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are anticipated to supersede current lithium-ion batteries because of sulfur cathodes’ excessive theoretical vitality density. To make sure the speedy conversion of sulfur species, these cathodes are sometimes composed of energetic supplies, host supplies (or catalysts), and conductive supplies.

Nevertheless, the fabrication of host supplies and preparation of sulfur cathodes typically entails difficult, multistep, and labor-intensive processes that require various temperatures and situations, elevating issues about effectivity and price in industrial manufacturing.

To beat these challenges, Prof. Li’s crew developed a novel single-step laser printing method for the speedy manufacturing of built-in sulfur cathodes. Throughout this high-throughput laser-pulse irradiation course of, the precursor donor is activated, producing jetting particles that embody in-situ synthesized halloysite-based hybrid nanotubes (host materials), sulfur species (energetic materials), and glucose-derived porous carbon (conductive part). The combination is printed onto a carbon cloth acceptor, forming an built-in sulfur cathode. Notably, the laser-printed sulfur cathodes exhibit excellent efficiency in each coin and pouch lithium-sulfur cells.

“Traditional manufacturing processes of a cathode/anode in ion battery usually contain the synthesis of active materials (sometimes combined with host material/ catalyst), the preparation of mixture slurry, and the assembly of cathode/anode,” mentioned Prof. Li.

“These steps are usually carried out separately under different temperatures and conditions because the materials behave differently. As a result, the whole process can take tens of hours or even several days.”

Prof. Li mentioned, “Our newly developed laser-induced conversion technology offers a way to combine these processes into a single step at nanosecond speeds. The printing speed can achieve about 2 cm²/minute using only a single beam laser. A 75 × 45 mm2 sulfur cathode can be printed within 20 minutes and supply power for a small screen for several hours when assembled into a lithium-sulfur pouch cell.”

Dr. Yang Rongliang, the primary writer of this work and former postdoctoral fellow at HKUST, added, “These intriguing findings generated from our research on laser-material interplay. The laser-induced conversion course of could be characterised as an ultra-concentrated thermal phenomenon. The irradiated supplies bear a posh transient heating and cooling course of, with theoretical transient temperatures reaching as much as 1000’s of levels Kelvin.

“The precursor materials decompose, and the decomposed particles recombine to form new materials. This ultra-concentrated thermal process not only enables the formation and combination of materials with different natures, but also drives the concomitant micro-explosions that facilitate the jetting and transferring of forming particles.”