Citation: Wenyang Lei, Zhenwei Li, Hao He, Lan Yang, Xuebu Hu, Wei Liao, Xiaowen Yu, Zhongli Hu. Three birds with one stone: A multifunctional water-soluble binder for enhanced the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(6): 110985. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.110985 shu

Three birds with one stone: A multifunctional water-soluble binder for enhanced the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries

Wenyang Lei ^a ,
Zhenwei Li ^a ,
Hao He ^a ,
Lan Yang ^a ,
Xuebu Hu ^{a, *,} ,
Wei Liao ^b ,
Xiaowen Yu ^b ,
Zhongli Hu ^a

a.
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing 400054, China
b.
Chongqing CEPREI Industrial Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Chongqing 401332, China

xuebu@cqut.edu.cn

Received Date: 19 November 2024
Revised Date: 13 February 2025
Accepted Date: 20 February 2025
Available Online: 20 February 2025

Figures(4)

Though polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is commonly employed as a binder for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, it still faces the challenge of serious electrode fracture caused by dramatic volume changes during cycling, and lacks extended functions such as capturing dissolved lithium polysulfides (LIPSs) and promoting Li⁺ transfer. Herein, a multifunctional water-soluble binder lithium sulfonated cellulose (Cel-SO₃Li) is designed and prepared. The Cel-SO₃Li binder can capture LIPSs due to nucleophilic substitution reaction between -SO₄Li and dissolved LIPSs. Its abundant hydroxyl groups provide excellent electrode mechanical properties, which effectively alleviate sulfur volume changes during cycling. Furthermore, the -SO₃Li groups also enhance the diffusion of Li⁺ in the electrodes. In addition, density functional theory calculations reveal that the Cel-SO₃Li exhibits strong affinity and catalytic ability for LIPSs, indicating that it can effectively suppress the shuttle effect and enhance their reaction kinetics. Therefore, the electrode using Cel-SO₃Li binder reach a high initial discharge capacity of 1165 mAh/g at 0.5 C, remain 545 mAh/g after 1000 cycles with a low capacity decay rate of 0.053% per cycle. This study proposes the concept of a multifunctional and environmentally friendly binder with the ability of "three birds with one stone" (high adhesion, fast Li⁺ diffusion, effective capture and even catalysis for LIPSs), which will contribute to accelerating applications of Li-S batteries.
- Cel-SO₃Li,
- Binder,
- Nucleophilic substitution,
- LIPSs,
- Li-S batteries
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