Aluminum-sulfur (Al-S) chemistry is attractive for the development of future-generation electrochemical energy storage technologies. However, to date, only limited reversible Al-S chemistry has been demonstrated. This paper demonstrates a highly reversible room-temperature Al-S battery with a lithium-ion (Li⁺-ion)-mediated ionic liquid electrolyte. Mechanistic studies with electrochemical and spectroscopic methodologies revealed that the enhancement in reversibility by Li⁺-ion mediation is attributed to the chemical reactivation of aluminum polysulfides and/or sulfide by Li⁺ during electrochemical cycling. The results obtained with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations suggest the presence of a Li₃AlS₃-like product with a mixture of Li₂S- and Al₂S₃-like phases in the discharged sulfur cathode. With Li⁺-ion mediation, the cycle life of room-temperature Al-S batteries is greatly improved. The cell delivers an initial capacity of ∼1,000 mA hr g⁻¹ and maintains a capacity of up to 600 mA hr g⁻¹ after 50 cycles.

铝硫（Al-S）化学物质对下一代电化学储能技术的发展具有吸引力。然而，迄今为止，仅证明了有限的可逆Al-S化学。本文演示了一种具有锂离子（Li ⁺离子）介导的离子液体电解质的高度可逆的室温Al-S电池。用电化学和光谱学方法进行的机理研究表明，Li ⁺离子介导的可逆性增强归因于电化学循环过程中Li ⁺对多硫化铝和/或硫化物的化学活化。X射线光电子能谱和密度泛函理论计算得出的结果表明存在Li ₃在放电的硫阴极中具有类似Li ₂ S和Al ₂ S ₃的相的混合物的类似AlS ₃的产物。通过Li ⁺离子的介导，室温Al-S电池的循环寿命大大提高。该电池的初始容量约为1000 mA hr g ^-1，经过50个循环后仍可维持高达600 mA hr g ^-1的容量。