Sulfonic acid functionalized covalent organic frameworks for lithium-sulfur battery separator and oxygen evolution electrocatalyst

Tian Xia; Zhuangzhuang Wu; Ying Liang; Wenxin Wang; Yongpeng Li; Xinlong Tian; Lijuan Feng; Zhuyin Sui; Qi Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.115

Sulfonic acid functionalized covalent organic frameworks for lithium-sulfur battery separator and oxygen evolution electrocatalyst

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Sep:645:146-153. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.115. Epub 2023 Apr 28.

Authors

Tian Xia¹, Zhuangzhuang Wu¹, Ying Liang¹, Wenxin Wang¹, Yongpeng Li², Xinlong Tian¹, Lijuan Feng³, Zhuyin Sui⁴, Qi Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, PR China.
² School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, PR China.
³ School of Bioengineering, Zhuhai Campus of Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai 519041, PR China. Electronic address: fljcyczh@126.com.
⁴ School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, PR China. Electronic address: suizy@ytu.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, PR China. Electronic address: chenqi@hainanu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37148680
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.115

Abstract

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are considered as a class of potential candidates for energy storage and catalysis. In this work, a COF containing sulfonic groups was prepared to be a modified separator in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Benefiting from the charged sulfonic groups, the COF-SO₃ cell exhibited higher ionic conductivity (1.83 mS⋅cm^-1). Moreover, the modified COF-SO₃ separator not only inhibited the shuttle of polysulfide but also promoted Li⁺ diffusion, thanks to the electrostatic interaction. The COF-SO₃ cell also showed excellent electrochemical performance that the initial specific capacity of the battery was 890 mA h g^-1 at 0.5 C and demonstrated 631 mA h g^-1 after 200 cycles. In addition, COF-SO₃ with satisfactory electrical conductivity was also used as an electrocatalyst toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) via cation-exchange strategy. The electrocatalyst COF-SO₃@FeNi possessed a low overpotential (350 mV at 10 mA cm^-2) in an alkaline aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, COF-SO₃@FeNi exhibited exceptional stability, and the overpotential increased about 11 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 after 1000 cycles. This work facilitates the application of versatile COFs in the electrochemistry field.

Keywords: Covalent organic frameworks; Lithium-sulfur battery; Oxygen evolution reaction; Separator.