Elucidating the Structure of Lithium Polysulfide by Complementary X-ray and Neutron Total Scattering

Lithium-sulfur batteries are an emerging class of rechargeable electrochemical cells with applications in speciality electric vehicles, including aviation, and grid-scale energy storage. The high theoretical specific capacity, energy density and the potentially low cost have led to significant scientific and industrial interest. Despite their fundamental importance, our understanding of liquid phase lithium polysulfide structures and transformations is limited. These species cannot be observed by X-ray diffraction, thus techniques that can probe local structure under in situ/operando conditions are required. In conducting, the first complementary X-ray and neutron PDF analysis of these species, we will shed light on their structure, interactions with solvent systems and pave the way for us to track these species in situ, providing insights needed to enable long-life Li-S batteries.