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Gaseous-phase, silica-coated sulfur particles as a cathode material for high-performance lithium/sulfur batteries

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Abstract

Lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries are one of the rechargeable batteries with high theoretical special capacity and high theoretical energy density. The gaseous-phase, silica (GPSiO2)-coated sulfur composites with different weight ratios were synthesized through solid-state fusion method as a novel cathode material for Li/S batteries. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and electrochemical testing methods were conducted to investigate the effect of gaseous-phase silica/sulfur composites on electrochemical performance. Results indicate that the composites have flocculent structure. The initial specific capacity of the GPSiO2/S-3:7 composite is up to 1610 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, which is the highest in the different ratio composites and is approximately 96% of sulfur utilization. The specific capacity was maintained at 814 mA h g−1 after the 50th cycle. The GPSiO2/S-3:7 composite has the lowest impedance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11364011) and the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2015GXNSFAA139004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Yongxuan Hou, Jianrong Xiao, Yafang Guo, Meng Qi & Aihua Jiang

  2. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magneto-Chemical Functional Materials, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China

    Yanwei Li

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  1. Yongxuan Hou
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  2. Jianrong Xiao
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  3. Yafang Guo
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  4. Meng Qi
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Correspondence to Jianrong Xiao or Yanwei Li.

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Hou, Y., Xiao, J., Guo, Y. et al. Gaseous-phase, silica-coated sulfur particles as a cathode material for high-performance lithium/sulfur batteries. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 8901–8907 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-6620-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-6620-4

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