Organosulphur compounds for electrochemical energy storage applications : supercapacitors and lithium-sulphur batteries

• Main Author: Coadou, Erwan
• Published: Queen's University Belfast 2016
• Subjects: 621.31
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.706291

The work presented in this manuscript concentrates on investigating the use of organosulfur compounds as potential electrolyte components for electrochemical energy storage systems, in particular in lithium-sulfur batteries. Novel glyme-functionalised sulfonium-based ionic liquids were synthesized and characterised before being tested as pure electrolytes for symmetrical supercapacitors based on activated carbon electrodes. The adaptation of the structure of the ionic liquids to the porosity of activated carbon was found to be of fundamental importance for the design of more efficient systems. For lithium-sulfur batteries, the study has enabled a better understanding of the mechanisms involved during the operation of the sulfur/diphenyl disulfide redox couple in a range of glyme-based solvents. Similarly, the influence of the glyme-based solvents on the chemical equilibria between organic and mineral polysulfides and on the system operation has been investigated. The initial results demonstrated that this is a particularly promising strategy in order to significantly improve the performances of lithium-sulfur batteries.