Initial Discharge Behavior of an Ultra High Loading 3D Sulfur Cathode for a Room-Temperature Na/S Battery

Abstract

A 3D sulfur cathode for a large-scale room-temperature (RT) Na/S battery with a high sulfur loading of 14.63 mg cm(-2) was fabricated. The first discharge was tested in order to understand the macroscopic changes. A first discharge capacity of 865 mAh g-(1) was obtained at 1/1000 C-rate along with a discharge curve with two clear plateaus at 2.29 V and 1.78 V, respectively. A visual change occurs in the 3D sulfur cathode. A thick layer of discharge products at the solid electrolyte separator face of the 3D sulfur cathode was observed and analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).