Combined first-principles statistical mechanics approach to sulfur structure in organic cathode hosts for polymer based lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries

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Abstract: Polymer-based batteries that utilize organic electrode materials are considered viable candidates to overcome the common drawbacks of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. A promising cathode can be developed using a conductive, flexible, and free-standing polymer, poly(4-thiophen-3-yl)benzenethiol) (PTBT), as the sulfur host material. By a vulcanization process, sulfur is embedded into this polymer. Here, we present a combination of electronic structure theory and statistical mechanics to characterize the structure of the initial state of the charged cathode on an atomic level. We perform a stability analysis of differently sulfurized TBT dimers as the basic polymer unit calculated within density-functional theory (DFT) and combine this with a statistical binding model for the binding probability distributions of the vulcanization process. From this, we deduce sulfur chain length (“rank”) distributions and calculate the average sulfur rank depending on the sulfur concentration and temperature. This multi-scale approach allows us to bridge the gap between the local description of the covalent bonding process and the derivation of the macroscopic properties of the cathode. Our calculations show that the main reaction of the vulcanization process leads to high-probability states of sulfur chains cross-linking TBT units belonging to different polymer backbones, with a dominant rank around n = 5. In contrast, the connection of adjacent TBT units of the same polymer backbone by a sulfur chain is the side reaction. These results are experimentally supported by Raman spectroscopy

Location
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Extent
Online-Ressource
Language
Englisch
Notes
Physical chemistry, chemical physics. - 23, 47 (2021) , 26709-26720, ISSN: 1463-9084

Event
Veröffentlichung
(where)
Freiburg
(who)
Universität
(when)
2022
Creator
Schütze, Yannik
Oliveira Silva, Ranielle de
Ning, Jiaoyi
Rappich, Jörg
Lu, Yan
Ruiz, Victor G.
Bande, Annika
Dzubiella, Joachim

DOI
10.1039/D1CP04550D
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2237953
Rights
Kein Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Last update
15.08.2025, 7:37 AM CEST

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Time of origin

  • 2022

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