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Preparation of activated carbon derived from biomass and its application in lithium–sulfur batteries

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Abstract

The most suitable activated carbon from three kinds of biomass wastes: walnut shell, peanut shell and pistachio hull is chosen to prepare the activated carbon–sulfur composites (AC-S) for rechargeable lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery, due to the advantages of a relatively cheap, simple and non-toxic compositing progress. It indicates that the activated carbon (ACpe) derived from peanut shell owns flat, narrow and long shape macroporous structure with large micropores on its surface and is more suitable for the reaction in the Li–S battery. The ACpe/S composite containing about 57 wt% sulfur (sulfur loading of 0.83 mg cm− 2) shows a best initial discharge capacity of 943 mAhg− 1 at the rate of 0.2 C. It still retains a comparably high specific capacity of 619 mAh g− 1 with a coulombic efficiency of 95% after 100 cycles. This fact implies that the inherent flat pore construction of ACpe is beneficial for keep cycling stability for the lithium sulfur battery.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11372267, 11102176 and 11602213), the National 863 Plan of China (SS2013AA032202) and the Graduate Innovation Program of Hunan Province (CX2013B259).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Thin Film Materials and Devices, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, Hunan, China

    Hongwei Chen, Pengtao Xia, Weixin Lei, Yong Pan, Youlan Zou & Zengsheng Ma

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, Hunan, China

    Hongwei Chen, Pengtao Xia, Weixin Lei, Yong Pan, Youlan Zou & Zengsheng Ma

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  1. Hongwei Chen
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  2. Pengtao Xia
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Correspondence to Weixin Lei.

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Chen, H., Xia, P., Lei, W. et al. Preparation of activated carbon derived from biomass and its application in lithium–sulfur batteries. J Porous Mater 26, 1325–1333 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-019-00720-2

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