Chemically Generated Liquid Sulfur Droplets at Room and Subzero Temperatures

The liquid phase of sulfur has been observed at room temperature, resulting from the electrochemical oxidation of polysulfides, a process occurring on the electrodes and influenced by the electrode materials. However, such electrode-dependent behavior of liquid sulfur has constrained its use in battery applications, driving research for alternative processes. This paper introduces an approach to generating liquid sulfur at both room and subzero temperatures through chemical reactions independent of the substrate material. We demonstrate that using a redox mediator, polysulfides can be chemically oxidized into liquid sulfur droplets in the electrolyte close to but away from the electrode. This pathway can generate liquid sulfur at room and subzero temperatures of −15 °C, 130 °C below sulfur’s melting temperature (115 °C). The chemically generated liquid sulfur further enriches the lithium–sulfur-electrolyte material systems, potentially creating opportunities for high-energy lithium–sulfur and other metal–sulfur batteries.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  ACS Nano

• Publication date

  2025-08-07

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Materials Science, Chemistry

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1021/acsnano.5c09160PMID 40772670PMCID 12369013
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Cubic Iodide LixYI3+x Superionic Conductors through Defect Manipulation for All-Solid-State Li Batteries.

  2024cited by this paper
• Healable and conductive sulfur iodide for solid-state Li–S batteries

  2024cited by this paper
• Optimal liquid sulfur deposition dynamics for fast-charging Li-S batteries

  2024cited by this paper
• Unlocking Liquid Sulfur Chemistry for Fast-Charging Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

  2023cited by this paper
• Formulating energy density for designing practical lithium–sulfur batteries

  2022cited by this paper
• Stable Liquid-Sulfur Generation on Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides toward Low-Temperature Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

  2022cited by this paper
• All-Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Enhanced by Redox Mediators.

  2021cited by this paper
• Research Progress toward Room Temperature Sodium Sulfur Batteries: A Review

  2021cited by this paper
• A high-energy, low-temperature lithium-sulfur flow battery enabled by an amphiphilic-functionalized suspension catholyte

  2020cited by this paper
• Electrochemical generation of liquid and solid sulfur on two-dimensional layered materials with distinct areal capacities

  2020cited by this paper
• Electrotunable liquid sulfur microdroplets

  2020cited by this paper
• Supercooled liquid sulfur maintained in three-dimensional current collector for high-performance Li-S batteries

  2020cited by this paper
• Dual redox mediators accelerate the electrochemical kinetics of lithium-sulfur batteries

  2020cited by this paper
• Low frequency Raman Spectroscopy for micron-scale and in vivo characterization of elemental sulfur in microbial samples

  2019cited by this paper
• Direct electrochemical generation of supercooled sulfur microdroplets well below their melting temperature

  2019cited by this paper
• Designing a Quinone-Based Redox Mediator to Facilitate Li2S Oxidation in Li-S Batteries

  2019cited by this paper
• Adsorption‐Catalysis Design in the Lithium‐Sulfur Battery

  2019cited by this paper
• Sodium–Sulfur Flow Battery for Low‐Cost Electrical Storage

  2018cited by this paper
• Reactivation of dead sulfide species in lithium polysulfide flow battery for grid scale energy storage

  2017cited by this paper
• Reversible S0 /MgSx Redox Chemistry in a MgTFSI2 /MgCl2 /DME Electrolyte for Rechargeable Mg/S Batteries.

  2017cited by this paper
• Predicting the composition and formation of solid products in lithium-sulfur batteries by using an experimental phase diagram.

  2016cited by this paper
• A stable room-temperature sodium–sulfur battery

  2016cited by this paper
• Lithium Iodide as a Promising Electrolyte Additive for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: Mechanisms of Performance Enhancement

  2015cited by this paper
• Enhancing the reversibility of Mg/S battery chemistry through Li(+) mediation.

  2015cited by this paper
• X-ray Absorption Spectra of Dissolved Polysulfides in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries from First-Principles.

  2014cited by this paper
• Electrogeneration of single nanobubbles at sub-50-nm-radius platinum nanodisk electrodes.

  2013cited by this paper
• A membrane-free lithium/polysulfide semi-liquid battery for large-scale energy storage

  2013cited by this paper
• Structure and compatibility of a magnesium electrolyte with a sulphur cathode

  2011cited by this paper
• Li-O2 and Li-S batteries with high energy storage.

  2011cited by this paper
• A highly ordered nanostructured carbon-sulphur cathode for lithium-sulphur batteries.

  2009cited by this paper
• Bench-top method for fabricating glass-sealed nanodisk electrodes, glass nanopore electrodes, and glass nanopore membranes of controlled size.

  2007cited by this paper
• Sulfuric Acid Manufacture: Analysis, Control and Optimization

  2005cited by this paper
• A tribute to sulfur.

  2000cited by this paper
• A review of sulfur crosslinking fundamentals for accelerated and unaccelerated vulcanization

  1993cited by this paper
• Elemental sulfur fertilizers and their use on crops and pastures

  1993cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.