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Hierarchical 3D nitrogen and phosphorous codoped graphene/carbon nanotubes–sulfur composite with synergistic effect for high performance of lithium–sulfur batteries

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Abstract

Lithium–sulfur battery has been considered as a promising electrochemical energy storage system based on its theoretical energy density. However, its practical application is hindered by poor conductivity of sulfur and the shuttle effect. Herein, a hierarchical three-dimensional nitrogen and phosphorous codoped graphene and carbon nanotubes with 70 wt% of sulfur content (N, P codoped G/CNTs-S70) composite was prepared using melamine phosphate as a single precursor of N and P. The simultaneous introduction of N and P creates high active sites on the G/CNTs backbones, restricts the detachments of sulfur from the host G/CNTs, and induces strong chemical adsorption of the dissolution of lithium polysulfides. The as-prepared N, P codoped G/CNTs-S70 composite delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 1550 mA h g−1 and retains a capacity of 735 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.5  C. This is a significant improvement in the rate capability and cycling stability compared with the un-doped G/CNTs-S70 cathode. This simple strategy with single precursor offers promising electrochemical properties for Li–S batteries.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21676304 and 21636010) and the Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Plan Project (No. 2017TP1001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Maru Dessie Walle, Zhifeng Zhang, Mengyuan Zhang, Xiaolong You, Yajuan Li & You-Nian Liu

  2. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Power Sources, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Yajuan Li & You-Nian Liu

Authors
  1. Maru Dessie Walle
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  2. Zhifeng Zhang
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  3. Mengyuan Zhang
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  4. Xiaolong You
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Correspondence to Yajuan Li or You-Nian Liu.

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Walle, M.D., Zhang, Z., Zhang, M. et al. Hierarchical 3D nitrogen and phosphorous codoped graphene/carbon nanotubes–sulfur composite with synergistic effect for high performance of lithium–sulfur batteries. J Mater Sci 53, 2685–2696 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1678-1

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