Professor Jo Gye-yong's Team at National Pukyong University Proposes Next-Generation Lithium-Sulfur Secondary Battery Separator

Published in the International Journal 'Composites Part B: Engineering'

A research team led by Professor Jo Gye-yong (majoring in Industrial Chemistry) at Pukyong National University has developed a new separator for lithium-sulfur batteries, which are considered next-generation secondary batteries.

Professor Jo Gye-yong of Pukyong National University (center) and (from the bottom left) Kwon Young-je, Kim Se-hoon, Choi Kyung-min, Professor Lee Jin-hong of Pusan National University (top left), and Chae Sung-wook.

Professor Jo Gye-yong from Pukyong National University and Professor Lee Jin-hong (majoring in Organic Materials System Engineering) from Pusan National University, along with their joint research team, proposed a manufacturing method based on metal-organic framework (MOF) materials to overcome the shuttle effect, which causes degradation and is a major obstacle to the commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries.

The research team manufactured and applied a separator based on MOF materials, which are porous substances with a large surface area, and announced research results that improve the charge-discharge efficiency and electrode stability of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are highly regarded as next-generation secondary batteries due to their ability to achieve high electric capacity, but during charge-discharge cycles, the shuttle effect generates lithium polysulfide chains (Li2Sx), causing permanent electrode capacity reduction and shortened battery life.

To solve this problem, Professor Jo’s research team fabricated a separator using a composite called ‘NZG,’ which consists of a functionalized multifunctional MOF material (ZIF8A) made from an insulating metal-organic framework (ZIF-8), one of the MOF materials, and graphene oxide. This was designed to overcome the shuttle effect and maintain high electrode capacity.

As a result, it was found that lithium-sulfur batteries could maintain high electrode capacity even at fast charge-discharge rates due to rapid oxidation-reduction reactions catalyzed by polysulfides on the NZG composite, which has a large surface area and an excess of amine groups.

Schematic image of a separator and catalytic action containing lithium-sulfur secondary battery and multifunctional metal-organic frameworks.

This research was conducted with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea’s Excellent Young Researchers program and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and was recently published in an international journal in the materials and energy field (IF=13.1, JCR=0.6%).

Sehun Kim, a master’s student and the first author of this research paper, stated, “By developing multifunctional MOF materials, composite technology, and separator coating technology for lithium-sulfur batteries, we have improved the problems previously associated with separators, and we expect that the commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries, one of the next-generation battery types, can be accelerated.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.