Electrochemical Performance of Nano-fibrous Selenium Cathode Synthesized by Reverse Solvent Method for Rechargeable Li-batteries

doi:10.15541/jim20150015

Abstract

Abstract:

Nano-fibrous selenium of high purity and crystallinity with a diameter of 100 nm were synthesized by the reverse solvent method. The structure and morphology of products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope, respectively. Since the size of elemental selenium is reduced, the inactivaton effect induced by the coverage of fully insulated discharge product Li₂Se on Se particles surface is mitigated, thus greatly improving the utilization coefficient of active materials and alleviating the capacity fading of lithium-selenium batteries. Compared with the pristine selenium cathode, Se fiber electrode presents higher specific capacity and better cycling stability which delivers an initial specific discharge capacity of 465 mAh/g at 0.1C (1C=675 mAh/g) and maintains a capacity of 213 mAh/g after 40 cycles. Meanwhile, Se fiber electrode shows higher electrochemical activity than pristine Se electrode due to its shorter lithium ion diffusion path, resulting in a substantially enhanced rate capability of Se fiber electrode.

Key words: nano-fibrous selenium, reverse solvent method, selenium cathode, secondary lithium battery

CLC Number:

TQ174

GUO Jing, JIN Jun, WEN Zhao-Yin, LIU Yu. Electrochemical Performance of Nano-fibrous Selenium Cathode Synthesized by Reverse Solvent Method for Rechargeable Li-batteries[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2015, 30(8): 867-871.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 XRD pattern of the as-prepared Se fiber

Fig. 2 SEM images of pristine Se (a) and Se fiber (b)

Fig. 3 Cyclic voltammograms of Li / pristine Se (a) and Li / Se fiber (b) cells

Fig. 4 Galvanostatic charge/discharge curves (a, b), cycling performance (c) and rate capability (d) of pristine Se and Se fiber The symbol “◆”denotes the value of specific capacity of Se fiber from literature [14]

Fig. 5 Nyquist plots of Li / pristine Se and Li / Se fiber cells after cycling

Fig. 6 Schematic diagram of discharge process of single Se particle

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