Recent Progress of Boron-based Materials in Lithium-sulfur Battery

doi:10.15541/jim20210183

Abstract

Abstract: Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries play a crucial role in the development of next-generation electrochemical energy storage technology due to its high energy density and low cost. However, their practical application is still hindered by the sluggish kinetics and low reversibility of the conversion reactions, which contribute to relatively low practical capacity, Coulombic inefficiency, and cycling instability. In this regard, the rational design of conductive, adsorptive and catalytic functional materials presents a critical pathway to stabilize and promote sulfur electrochemistry. Benefiting from the unique atomic and electronic structures of boron, boron-based materials exhibit multifarious and tunable physical, chemical and electrochemical properties, and have received extensive research attentions in Li-S batteries. This paper reviews the recent research progress of boron-based materials, including borophene, boron atom-doped carbon, metal borides and non-metal borides in Li-S batteries, concludes the remaining problems and proposes the future developing perspective.

Key words: lithium-sulfur battery, boride, chemical doping, borophene, shuttle effect, review

CLC Number:

TQ174

LI Gaoran, LI Hongyang, ZENG Haibo. Recent Progress of Boron-based Materials in Lithium-sulfur Battery[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2022, 37(2): 152-162.

References

[1] DUNN B, KAMATH H, TARASCON J M.Electrical energy storage for the grid: a battery of choices.Science, 2011, 334(6058): 928-935.
[2] ARICO A S, BRUCE P, SCROSATI B, et al. Nanostructured materials for advanced energy conversion and storage devices. Nature Materials, 2005, 4(5): 366-377.
[3] LIANG Y R, ZHAO C Z, YUAN H, et al. A review of rechargeable batteries for portable electronic devices. InfoMat, 2019, 1(1): 6-32.
[4] GOODENOUGH J B, PARK K S.The Li-ion rechargeable battery: a perspective.Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, 135(4): 1167-1176.
[5] TARASCON J M, ARMAND M.Issues and challenges facing rechargeable lithium batteries.Nature, 2011, 414: 171-179.
[6] JIN G Y, HE H C, WU J, et al. Cobalt-doped hollow carbon framework as sulfur host for the cathode of lithium sulfur battery. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2021, 36(2): 203-209.
[7] FANG R, ZHAO S Y, SUN Z H,et al. More reliable lithium-sulfur batteries: tatus, solutions and prospects. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(48): 1606823.
[8] HU J J, LI G R, GAO X P.Current status, problems and challenges in lithium-sulfur batteries.Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2013, 28(11): 1181-1186.
[9] LI G R, WANG S, ZHANG Y N, et al. Revisiting the role of polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries. Advanced Materials, 2018, 30(22): 1705590.
[10] PENG H J, HUANG J Q, ZHANG Q.A review of flexible lithium-sulfur and analogous alkali metal-chalcogen rechargeable batteries.Chemical Society Reviews, 2017, 46(17): 5237-5288.
[11] JANA M, XU R, CHENG X B, et al. Rational design of two-dimensional nanomaterials for lithium-sulfur batteries. Energy & Environmental Science, 2020, 13(4): 1049-1075.
[12] HE J R, MANTHIRAM A.A review on the status and challenges of electrocatalysts in lithium-sulfur batteries.Energy Storage Materials, 2019, 20: 55-70.
[13] SEH Z W, SUN Y M, ZHANG Q F, et al. Designing high-energy lithium-sulfur batteries. Chemical Society Reviews, 2016, 45(20): 5605-5634.
[14] JI X L, EVERS S, BLACK R, et al. Stabilizing lithium-sulphur cathodes using polysulphide reservoirs. Nature Communications, 2011, 2: 325.
[15] ZHANG Z, KONG L L, LIU S, et al. A high-efficiency sulfur/ carbon composite based on 3D graphene nanosheet@carbon nanotube matrix as cathode for lithium-sulfur battery. Advanced Energy Materials, 2017, 7(11): 1602543.
[16] XU W C, PAN X X, MENG X, et al. A conductive sulfur-hosting material involving ultrafine vanadium nitride nanoparticles for high-performance lithium-sulfur battery. Electrochimica Acta, 2020, 331: 135287.
[17] LIU Y T, LIU S, LI G R, et al. High volumetric energy density sulfur cathode with heavy and catalytic metal oxide host for lithium-sulfur battery. Advanced Science, 2020, 7(12): 1903693.
[18] CHEN H H, XIAO Y W, CHEN C, et al. Conductive MOF modified separator for mitigating the shuttle effect of lithium- sulfur battery through a filtration method. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019, 11(12): 11459-11465.
[19] YOO J, CHO S J, JUNG G Y, et al. COF-net on CNT-net as a molecularly designed, hierarchical porous chemical trap for polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries. Nano Letters, 2016, 16(5): 3292-3300.
[20] HU Y, LIU C.Introduction of 1,2-migration for organoboron compounds.University Chemistry, 2019, 34(12): 39-44.
[21] SOREN K M, SUNING W.Boron-based stimuli responsive materials.Chemical Society Reviews, 2019, 48(13): 3537-3549.
[22] HUANG Z G, WANG S N, DEWHURST R D, et al. Boron: its role in energy-related processes and applications. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, 59(23): 8800-8816.
[23] ZHU Y H, GAO S M, HOSMANE N S.Boron-enriched advanced energy materials.Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2017, 471: 577-586.
[24] KHAN K, TAREEN A K, ASLAM M, et al. Synthesis, properties and novel electrocatalytic applications of the 2D-borophene xenes. Progress in Solid State Chemistry, 2020, 59: 100283.
[25] RAO D W, LIU X J, YANG H, et al. Interfacial competition between a borophene-based cathode and electrolyte for the multiple-sulfide immobilization of a lithium sulfur battery. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2019, 7(12): 7092-7098.
[26] JIANG H R, SHYY W, LIU M, et al. Borophene and defective borophene as potential anchoring materials for lithium-sulfur batteries: a first-principles study. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2018, 6(5): 2107-2114.
[27] ZHANG C Y, HE Q, CHU W, et al. Transition metals doped borophene-graphene heterostructure for robust polysulfide anchoring: a first principle study. Applied Surface Science, 2020, 534: 147575.
[28] ZHANG L, LIANG P, SHU H B, et al. Borophene as efficient sulfur hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries: suppressing shuttle effect and improving conductivity. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2017, 121(29): 15549-15555.
[29] GRIXTI S, MUKHERJEE S, SINGH C V.Two-dimensional boron as an impressive lithium-sulphur battery cathode material.Energy Storage Materials, 2018, 13: 80-87.
[30] MANNIX A J, ZHOU X F, KIRALY B, et al. Synthesis of borophenes: anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphs. Science, 2015, 350(6267): 1513-1516.
[31] FENG B J, ZHANG J, ZHONG Q, et al. Experimental realization of two-dimensional boron sheets. Nature Chemistry, 2016, 8(6): 564-569.
[32] PARAKNOWITSCH J P, THOMAS A.Doping carbons beyond nitrogen: an overview of advanced heteroatom doped carbons with boron, sulphur and phosphorus for energy applications.Energy & Environmental Science, 2013, 6(10): 2839-2855.
[33] WANG H B, MAIYALAGAN T, WANG X.Review on recent progress in nitrogen-doped graphene: synthesis, characterization, and its potential applications.ACS Catalysis, 2012, 2(5): 781-794.
[34] XIE Y, MENG Z, CAI T W, et al. Effect of boron-doping on the graphene aerogel used as cathode for the lithium sulfur battery. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2015, 7(45): 25202-25210.
[35] SHI P C, WANG Y, LIANG X, et al. Simultaneously exfoliated boron-doped graphene sheets to encapsulate sulfur for applications in lithium-sulfur batteries. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2018, 6(8): 9661-9670.
[36] YANG L J, JIANG S J, ZHAO Y, et al. Boron-doped carbon nanotubes as metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2011, 50(31): 7132-7135.
[37] AI W, LI J W, DU Z Z,et al. Dual confinement of polysulfides in boron-doped porous carbon sphere/graphene hybrid for advanced Li-S batteries. Nano Research, 2018, 11(9): 4562-4573.
[38] YANG C P, YIN Y X, YE H, et al. Insight into the effect of boron doping on sulfur/carbon cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2014, 6(11): 8789-8795.
[39] XU C X, ZHOU H H, FU C P, et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of boron-doped unzipped carbon nanotubes/sulfur composite for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries. Electrochimica Acta, 2017, 232: 156-163.
[40] HAN P, MANTHIRAM A.Boron- and nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide coated separators for high-performance Li-S batteries.Journal of Power Sources, 2017, 369: 87-94.
[41] HOU T Z, CHEN X, PENG H J, et al. Design principles for heteroatom-doped nanocarbon to achieve strong anchoring of polysulfides for lithium-sulfur batteries. Small, 2016, 12(24): 3283-3291.
[42] XIONG D G, ZHANG Z, HUANG X Y, et al. Boosting the polysulfide confinement in B/N-codoped hierarchically porous carbon nanosheets via Lewis acid-base interaction for stable Li-S batteries. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2020, 51: 90-100.
[43] YUAN S Y, BAO J L, WANG L N, et al. Graphene-supported nitrogen and boron rich carbon layer for improved performance of lithium-sulfur batteries due to enhanced chemisorption of lithium polysulfides. Advanced Energy Materials, 2016, 6(5): 1501733.
[44] CHEN L, FENG J R, ZHOU H H, et al. Hydrothermal preparation of nitrogen, boron co-doped curved graphene nanoribbons with high dopant amounts for high-performance lithium sulfur battery cathodes. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2017, 5(16): 7403-7415.
[45] JIN C B, ZHANG W K, ZHUANG Z Z, et al. Enhanced sulfide chemisorption using boron and oxygen dually doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2017, 5(2): 632-640.
[46] ULLAH S, DENIS P A, SATO F.Unusual enhancement of the adsorption energies of sodium and potassium in sulfur-nitrogen and silicon-boron codoped graphene.ACS Omega, 2018, 3(11): 15821-15828.
[47] ZHANG Z, XIONG D G, SHAO A H, et al. Integrating metallic cobalt and N/B heteroatoms into porous carbon nanosheets as efficient sulfur immobilizer for lithium-sulfur batteries. Carbon, 2020, 167: 918-929.
[48] WANG P, KUMAR R, SANKARAN E M, et al. Vanadium diboride (VB₂) synthesized at high pressure: elastic, mechanical, electronic, and magnetic properties and thermal stability. Inorganic Chemistry, 2018, 57(3): 1096-1105.
[49] HE G J, LING M, HAN X Y, et al. Self-standing electrodes with core-shell structures for high-performance supercapacitors. Energy Storage Materials, 2017, 9: 119-125.
[50] WANG C C, AKBAR S A, CHEN W, et al. Electrical properties of high-temperature oxides, borides, carbides, and nitrides. Journal of Materials Science, 1995, 30(7): 1627-1641.
[51] XIAO Z B, YANG Z, ZHANG L J, et al. Sandwich-type NbS₂@S@I-doped graphene for high-sulfur-loaded, ultrahigh-rate, and long-life lithium sulfur batteries. ACS Nano, 2017, 11(8): 8488-8498.
[52] WANG L J, LIU F H, ZHAO B Y, et al. Carbon nanobowls filled with MoS₂ nanosheets as electrode materials for supercapacitors. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2020, 3(7): 6448-6459.
[53] BALACH J, LINNEMANN J, JAUMANN T, et al. Metal-based nanostructured materials for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2018, 6(46): 23127-23168.
[54] BEN-DOR L, SHIMONY Y.Crystal structure, magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivity of pure and NiO-doped MoO₂ and WO₂.Materials Research Bulletin, 1974, 9(6): 837-44.
[55] SAMSONOV G.难熔化合物手册. 北京: 中国工业出版社, 1965: 1-147.
[56] FENG L S, QUN C X, LIN M Y, et al. Nb-based oxides as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. Progress in Chemistry, 2015, 27(2/3): 297-309.
[57] TAO Q, MA S L, CUI T, et al. Structures and properties of functional transition metal borides. Acta Physica Sinica, 2017, 66(3): 036103.
[58] SHEN Y F, XU C, HUANG M, et al. Research advances of boron clusters,borane and metal-doped boron compounds. Progress in Chemistry, 2016, 28(11): 1601-1614.
[59] GUPTA S, PATEL M K, MIOTELLO A, et al. Metal boride-based catalysts for electrochemical water-splitting: a review. Advanced Functional Materials, 2020, 30(1): 1906481.
[60] WU F, WU C.New secondary batteries and their key materials based on the concept of multi-electron reaction.Chinese Science Bulletin, 2014, 59(27): 3369-3376.
[61] GUAN B, FAN L S, WU X, et al. The facile synthesis and enhanced lithium-sulfur battery performance of an amorphous cobalt boride (Co₂B)@graphene composite cathode. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2018, 6(47): 24045-24049.
[62] GUAN B, ZHANG Y, FAN L S, et al. Blocking polysulfide with Co₂B@CNT via “synergetic adsorptive effect” toward ultrahigh- rate capability and robust lithium-sulfur battery. ACS Nano, 2019, 13(6): 6742-6750.
[63] GUAN B, SUN X, ZHANG Y, et al. The discovery of interfacial electronic interaction within cobalt boride@MXene for high performance lithium-sulfur batteries. Chinese Chemical Letters, 2020, 32(7): 2249-2253.
[64] BASU B, RAJU GSURI A.Processing and properties of monolithic TiB₂ based materials.International Materials Reviews, 2006, 51(6): 352-374.
[65] LI C C, LIU X B, ZHU L, et al. Conductive and polar titanium boride as a sulfur host for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries. Chemistry of Materials, 2018, 30(20): 6969-6977.
[66] LI Z J, JIANG H R, LAI N C, et al. Designing effective solvent- catalyst interface for catalytic sulfur conversion in lithium-sulfur batteries. Chemistry of Materials, 2019, 31(24): 10186-10196.
[67] JIN L M, NI J, SHEN C, et al. Metallically conductive TiB₂ as a multi-functional separator modifier for improved lithium sulfur batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 2020, 448: 227336.
[68] WU R, XU H K, ZHAO Y W, et al. Borophene-like boron subunits-inserted molybdenum framework of MoB₂ enables stable and quick-acting Li₂S₆-based lithium-sulfur batteries. Energy Storage Materials, 2020, 32: 216-224.
[69] HE J R, BHARGAV A, MANTHIRAM A.Molybdenum boride as an efficient catalyst for polysulfide redox to enable high-energy- density lithium-sulfur batteries.Advanced Materials, 2020, 32(40): 2004741.
[70] PANG Q, KWOK C Y, KUNDU D, et al. Lightweight metallic MgB₂ mediates polysulfide redox and promises high-energy-density lithium-sulfur batteries. Joule, 2019, 3(1): 136-148.
[71] YU T T, GAO P F, ZHANG Y, et al. Boron-phosphide monolayer as a potential anchoring material for lithium-sulfur batteries: a first-principles study. Applied Surface Science, 2019, 486: 281-286.
[72] JANA S, THOMAS S, LEE C H, et al. B₃S monolayer: prediction of a high-performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries.Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2019, 7(20): 12706-12712.
[73] SUN C, HAI C X, ZHOU Y, et al. Highly catalytic boron nitride nanofiber in situ grown on pretreated ketjenblack as a cathode for enhanced performance of lithium-sulfur batteries. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 2020, 3(11): 10841-10853.
[74] ARENAL R, LOPEZ BEZANILLA A.Boron nitride materials: an overview from 0D to 3D (nano)structures.Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews-Computational Molecular Science, 2015, 5(4): 299-309.
[75] JIANG X F, WENG Q H, WANG X B, et al. Recent progress on fabrications and applications of boron nitride nanomaterials: a review. Journal of Materials Science and Technology, 2015, 31(6): 589-598.
[76] PRAKASH A, NEHATE S D, SUNDARAM K B.Boron carbon nitride based metal-insulator-metal UV detectors for harsh environment applications.Optics Letters, 2016, 41(18): 4249-4252.
[77] ZHAO Y M, YANG L, ZHAO J X, et al. How to make inert boron nitride nanosheets active for the immobilization of polysulfides for lithium-sulfur batteries: a computational study. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2017, 19(28): 18208-18216.
[78] YI Y K, LI H P, CHANG H H, et al. Few-layer boron nitride with engineered nitrogen vacancies for promoting conversion of polysulfide as a cathode matrix for lithium-sulfur batteries. Chemistry, 2019, 25(34): 8112-8117.
[79] HE B, LI W C, ZHANG Y, et al. Paragenesis BN/CNTs hybrid as a monoclinic sulfur host for high rate and ultra-long life lithium- sulfur battery. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2018, 6(47): 24194-24200.
[80] DENG D R, BAI C D, XUE F, et al. Multifunctional ion-sieve sonstructed by 2D materials as an interlayer for Li-S batteries. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019, 11(12): 11474-11480.
[81] SUN K, GUO P Q, SHANG X N, et al. Mesoporous boron carbon nitride/graphene modified separators as efficient polysulfides barrier for highly stable lithium-sulfur batteries. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2019, 842: 34-40.
[82] FAN Y, YANG Z, HUA W X, et al. Functionalized boron nitride nanosheets/graphene interlayer for fast and long-life lithium-sulfur batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 2017, 7(13): 1602380.
[83] KIM P J H, SEO J, FU K, et al. Synergistic protective effect of a BN-carbon separator for highly stable lithium sulfur batteries. NPG Asia Materials, 2017, 9(4): e375.
[84] PRAMANICK A, DEY P P, DAS P K.Microstructure, phase and electrical conductivity analyses of spark plasma sintered boron carbide machined with WEDM.Ceramics International, 2020, 46(3): 2887-2894.
[85] YEGANEH M, SARAF H H, KAFI F, et al. First principles investigation of vibrational, electronic and optical properties of graphene-like boron carbide. Solid State Communications, 2020, 305: 113750.
[86] CHANG Y K, SUN X H, MA M D, et al. Application of hard ceramic materials B₄C in energy storage: design B₄C@C core-shell nanoparticles as electrodes for flexible all-solid-state micro- supercapacitors with ultrahigh cyclability. Nano Energy, 2020, 75: 104947.
[87] LUO L, CHUNG S H, ASL H Y, et al. Long-life lithium-sulfur batteries with a bifunctional cathode substrate configured with boron carbide nanowires. Advanced Materials, 2018, 30(39): 1804149.
[88] SONG N N, GAO Z, ZHANG Y Y, et al. B₄C nanoskeleton enabled, flexible lithium-sulfur batteries. Nano Energy, 2019, 58: 30-39.
[89] ZHANG R H, CHI C, WU M C, et al. A long-life Li-S battery enabled by a cathode made of well-distributed B₄C nanoparticles decorated activated cotton fibers. Journal of Power Sources, 2020, 451: 227751.