BAOSTEEL Australia


Project ID: BA14017

Project Title: Emerging Anode Materials for Li-S Batteries

Investigators: 
  • Professor Ian Gentle, The University of Queensland
  • Dr Dawei Wang, The University of New South Wales
  • Prof Cheng Lv, Baosteel Research Institute

Li-S batteries are the next generation high-energy batteries, with the capability of storing much higher energy than any types of lithium ion batteries. To date, three problems associated with Li-S battery have impeded their widespread commercialization: instability of the sulfur cathode, dendrite formation on the lithium anode and electrolyte incompatibility. Supported by BAJC in the first round funding, we have developed a very stable sulfur cathode. Despite great advancement in the cathode, we note that the use of lithium metal as the anode could result in dendrite formation that leads to a potential fire/explosion risk; and also that the poor compatibility of the electrolyte with sulfur species could harm the battery cycle life. The overall aim of this project is to develop new anode and electrolyte materials for Li-S batteries. The two major research objectives are: (1) fabricate coated lithium metal nanoparticles for dendrite-free anodes; (2) fabricate polymeric membrane electrolytes.