국립 부경대학교

PKNU researchers have found a way to improve the efficiency of lithium-sulfur batteries

Professor Jung Sung-Chul

A research team led by Professor Jung Sung-Chul (Dept. of Physics) at Pukyong National University succeeded in discovering the ion transport mechanism of a metal organic framework that can increase the efficiency of lithium-sulfur secondary batteries. Professor Jung and researcher Jeon Tae -Gon (Department of Physics · Research Center for Nano Science and Technology) have identified the mechanism at the atomic-level by which the HKUST-1 metal-organic framework-based separator blocks the movement of lithium polysulfide while effectively allowing only lithium ions to pass through. The metal-organic framework is a microporous material used in the fields of secondary batteries, hydrogen storage, catalysts, sensors, and drug delivery. Lithium-sulfur secondary batteries have a chronic shuttle phenomenon in which lithium polysulfide passes through the separator and repeatedly reciprocates between the positive and negative electrodes.

Professor Jung's research team identified the fact that not only the size of the pores of the metal-organic framework, but also the solvation structure of ions or molecules passing through the metal-organic framework are important factors that can pass through the separation membrane through the first principle calculation simulation study. The presence or absence of chemical bonds between active sites and ions or molecules of the metal-organic framework was also found to be an important factor. Professor Jung said, "The results of this study can be very useful information not only to solve the shuttle phenomenon of lithium polysulfide, but also to design a metal-organic framework separator for a general liquid electrolyte-based metal-ion battery," he added, "I expect that it will also be helpful in the process of controlling the selective movement and blocking of only the target material in general microporous materials." This research was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT (middle-level research), and has been recently published online by the Royal Society of Chemistry, <Journal of Materials Chemistry A> (Citation Index = 12.732).