Na2S-carbon nanotube fabric electrodes for room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries

Xingwen Yu; Arumugam Manthiram

doi:10.1002/chem.201405344

Na2S-carbon nanotube fabric electrodes for room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries

Chemistry. 2015 Mar 9;21(11):4233-7. doi: 10.1002/chem.201405344. Epub 2015 Jan 29.

Authors

Xingwen Yu¹, Arumugam Manthiram

Affiliation

¹ Electrochemical Energy Laboratory, Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton St, Austin, TX, 78712 (USA).

PMID: 25640023
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201405344

Abstract

A unique sodium sulfide (Na2S) cathode is developed, which will allow the use of sodium-free anodes for room-temperature sodium-sulfur (Na-S) batteries. To overcome the "inert" nature of the Na2S, a special cathode structure is developed by spreading the multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-wrapped Na2S particles onto MWCNT fabrics. Spectroscopic and electrochemical analyses reveal a series of polysulfide intermediates involved in the charge/discharge of the cell. The Na-S battery prepared in full discharge state with the Na2S/MWCNT cathode provides a remarkable capacity of 500 A h kg(-1) (based on sulfur mass) after 50 cycles.

Keywords: carbon nanotube fabrics; cyclability; electrochemical performance; room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries; sodium sulfide electrodes.