Published April 12, 2022 | Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Promoting Reversibility of Multielectron Redox in Alkali-Rich Sulfide Cathodes through Cryomilling

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Abstract

Conventional cathodes for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are reaching their theoretical capacity limits. One way to meet the growing demands for high-capacity LIBs is by developing so-called Li-rich cathode materials that greatly benefit from additional capacities from anionic moieties in the structure. Li-rich materials are intrinsically subject to higher degrees of (de)intercalation, leaving the particles more prone to fractures and thus rapid capacity fade. Alkali-rich LiNaFeS₂ reversibly cycles with capacities exceeding 300 mAh g⁻¹, but its capacity fades faster than an isostructural material Li₂FeS₂. Using synchrotron-based transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM), we demonstrate that the capacity fade of LiNaFeS₂ stems from particle fractures in the first charge cycle. We improve the cycling performance of LiNaFeS₂ by means of cryomilling, which enhances capacity retention at cycle 50 by 76%. Through crystallographic and morphological characterization techniques, we confirm that cryomilling not only decreases particle and crystallite size while increasing microstrain but also prevents particles from fracturing. Cryomilling is a powerful tool to engineer nanoscale battery materials, and TXM allows the direct observation of morphological changes of the particles, which can be leveraged to develop next-generation cathode materials for LIBs.

Additional Information

© 2022 American Chemical Society. Received: January 4, 2022; Revised: February 28, 2022; Published: March 17, 2022. This work was supported as part of the Center for Synthetic Control Across Length-scales for Advancing Rechargeables (SCALAR), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC0019381. J.J.Z. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant. No. DGE-1745301. Use of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515. S.S.K. and M.C.-A. acknowledge the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech for TEM infrastructure and support. Use of the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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Created:
August 22, 2023
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October 23, 2023