Advanced monolithic sulphur wafer-like cathode based on hyper-branched super-structures and method of manufacture thereof
The present invention relates to a cathode for a rechargeable battery with a monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body, namely a sulphur wafer, comprising heterogenous branched and/or hyperbranched structures of twinned sulphur crystals as an active electrode material.
1 . A cathode comprising:
a crystalline monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body,
wherein the cathode body comprises a grown sulphur wafer comprising heterogenous branched and/or hyperbranched structures of twinned sulphur crystals as active electrode material.
2 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the active electrode material, is the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body, which further comprises a combination of at least two types of sulphur allotropes having different crystal lattices.
3 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body comprises an engineered, sulphur-superstructure having a structure of higher order and/or alignment.
4 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body comprises at least 3 layers of aligned and/or interlaced hollow tubular sulphur nanotubes and/or nanofibers and/or microtubes and/or microfibers and/or skin-core fibrous structures.
5 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the cathode has characterized in having a density gradient between an inner core and an outer shell of individual crystalline entities including nanotubes and/or nanofibers and/or microtubes and/or microfibers and/or skin-core fibrous structures of the crystalline monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body.
6 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the total mass content of sulphur in the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body is ≥92 wt. % of the sulphur allotropes, and/or where the content of the sulphur present in the monolithic wafer-like cathode is ≥85 wt. %.
7 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body is self-supporting.
8 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body is provided independently from additional, internal support in/on which the electrode material would be carried and/or hosted.
9 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body is provided independently from a foreign support in/on which the electrode material would be carried and/or hosted.
10 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the structural integrity of the sulphur wafer is provided by the sulphur crystal structure and/or polycrystalline structure, hence the grown crystalline entity itself.
11 . The cathode of claim 1 , wherein the monolithic-sulphur-structure cathode body holds on its outer edges and/or surfaces an electrically conductive and ion permeable layer which is an integral non-detachable part of the monolithic sulphur wafer.
12 . A battery comprising a cathode of claim 1 .
13 . A method for production of a cathode of claim 1 , the method comprising growing aligned monoclinic sulphur crystals directly from seed crystals present in a sulphur containing mother liquid at a temperature from 95° C. to 120° C. and subsequent quenching the resulting monolithic monoclinic sulphur structure between −8° C. to −210° C.
14 . The cathode of claim 8 , wherein the additional, internal support comprises a three-dimensional graphene foam.
15 . The battery of claim 12 , wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery.