Probing the “Universal” Amorphization of Crystalline Sulfur in its Mixture with Ultrahigh Surface Area Porous Carbon

Pal, N and Bhattacharyya, AJ (2023) Probing the “Universal” Amorphization of Crystalline Sulfur in its Mixture with Ultrahigh Surface Area Porous Carbon. In: Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 127 (12). pp. 5713-5719.

PDF jou_phy_che_127-12_5713-5719_2023.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (2MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

We discuss here a fundamental observation regarding the time-dependent amorphization of sulfur in contact with ultrahigh surface area porous carbon. The simple sulfur-carbon mixture discussed here effectively resembles a sulfur-cathode in metal-sulfur batteries. Systematic time dependent powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy clearly reveal a crystalline to amorphous phase transition, which has been recently referred as a liquid spillover effect. The occurrence of the structural phase transformation only above a certain carbon surface area (≥2000-3000 m2/g) in the binary sulfur-carbon mixture is equivalent to a “universal” phenomenon, having deep implications in metal-sulfur battery electrochemistry. As revealed by thermal and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements, the (nonpolar) interactions between sulfur and carbon induces a transformation from crystalline orthorhombic to a highly dispersed amorphous phase comprising of small chain sulfur radicals. Amorphization leads to higher degree of sulfur-mass utilization and effective polysulfide management resulting in superior specific capacity of the sulfur-cathode in a Li-S battery. © 2023 American Chemical Society.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to American Chemical Society.
Keywords:	Amorphization; Carbon; Lithium compounds; Lithium sulfur batteries; Paramagnetic resonance; Porous materials, Amorphizations; Amorphous phasis; Carbon mixtures; Crystalline-to-amorphous; Porous carbons; Simple++; Spillover effects; Sulfur cathodes; Surface area; Time dependent, Cathodes
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2023 07:02
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2023 07:02
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/81389

Actions (login required)

View Item