Design and development of electrode materials for advanced Lithium- and Sodium-Sulfur batteries

Abstract

During 4 years of Ph. D course in graduate school of EEWS, I have focused on the development of novel cathode and anode materials with high specific capacities and designed next-generation lithium- and sodium rechargeable batteries with high energy densities utilizing such materials that I have studied. This Ph. D. dissertation can be divided into two categories based on research purposes and motivations: (1) Studies on material syntheses based on sulfur-mediated reactions and their electrochemical reaction mechanisms with lithium and sodium ions and (2) Practical cell designs with high energy density based on sulfur composite cathodes and surface stabilizations of metal anodes utilizing functional separator and an electrolyte additive. To this end, the ultimate goal of follow-up research is to design battery materials and cells whose performance can surpass that of current commercial lithium-ion batteries for the future application fields.