Why is this important?
With several partners exploring new Li–S materials and embedded sensors in parallel, small differences in assembly or cycling can blur the real signal. We set out to create a lightweight, shared way to build, test, and share results so evidence is directly comparable across labs and work packages.
What we standardised
We agreed a common baseline for materials and assembly (carbon‑coated aluminium current collectors, lithium on copper, Celgard 2400, a DOL:DME electrolyte with LiTFSI and LiNO₃, and a reference sulfur‑cathode blend) and a shared electrochemical window so capacity, rate, impedance growth, and redox behaviour are read the same way. To reduce hidden variability, we also fixed a few constants for cross‑site comparison: sulfur loading around 2 mg cm⁻², a 50 µm lithium anode, and an electrolyte‑to‑sulfur ratio near 15 µL mg⁻¹. On the device side, sensor interoperability is defined within a safe ≤5 V envelope, with target resistances and interdigitated geometries that plug into a nine‑channel layout via a ZIF connector—so new sensing concepts can be swapped in without re‑engineering the measurement chain. For faster learning, we added a practical accelerated pouch check (controlled‑temperature cycling within a defined voltage range) to move insight from coin cells to early pouch validation efficiently.
Partners now read from the same playbook. When one team sees a gain, others can reproduce the build and cycling exactly, confirming or challenging results in days rather than months. Cross‑site plots are cleaner, decisions on what to keep or drop are quicker, and promising sensorised designs move sooner toward pouch‑cell proof.
What comes next
We’ll keep this protocol living, refreshing it as new sensors arrive and as pouch‑cell integration scales, then publish the first cross‑partner pouch results generated under the aligned standard.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.