Scientific Reports (Mar 2017)

High performance lithium-sulfur batteries for storing pulsed energy generated by triboelectric nanogenerators

  • Weixing Song,
  • Chao Wang,
  • Baoheng Gan,
  • Mengmeng Liu,
  • Jianxiong Zhu,
  • Xihui Nan,
  • Ning Chen,
  • Chunwen Sun,
  • Jitao Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00545-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Abstract Storing pulsed energy harvested by triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) from ambient mechanical motion is an important technology for obtaining sustainable, low-cost, and green power. Here, we introduce high-energy-density Li-S batteries with excellent performance for storing pulsed output from TENGs. The sandwich-structured sulfur composites with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and polypyrrole serve as cathode materials that suppress the shuttle effect of polysulfides and thus preserve the structural stability of the cathode during Li-ion insertion and extraction. The charging time and energy storage efficiency of the Li-S batteries are directly affected by the rotation rates of the TENGs. The average storage efficiency of the batteries for pulsed output from TENGs can exceed 80% and even reach 93% at low discharge currents. The Li-S batteries also show excellent rate performance for storing pulsed energy at a high discharge current rate of 5 C. The high storage efficiency and excellent rate capability and cyclability demonstrate the feasibility of storing and exploiting pulsed energy provided by TENGs and the potential of Li-S batteries with high energy storage efficiency for storing pulsed energy harvested by TENGs.