Surface Catalysis of Lithium Polysulfides : Effect of the Environment.

MARTÍN ZOLOFF MICHOFF; FLAVIA E. LOBO MAZA; GUILLERMINA LUQUE; EZEQUIEL LEIVA

Congreso; 34th Topical Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry; 2023

The present work deals with a first principles comparative study of the decomposition of Li2S anddifferent polysulfides on graphitic surfaces in different dielectric media. This work aims at contributing to the understanding of the reactions that take place during the charging of a lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery in different solvents. Particularly, for Li2S cathodes, the main problem is the activation of its initial oxidation step. This reaction presents extremely sluggish kinetics, with overpotentials of the order of 3 V.One possible strategy to overcome this serious setback is electrocatalysis, which aims at lowering theactivation energy barrier of the intermediate involved in the rate-determining step.