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Sulfur/microporous carbon composites for Li-S battery

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Abstract

A commercial carbon black with microporous framework is used as carbon matrix to prepare sulfur/microporous carbon (S/MC) composites for the cathode of lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery. The S/MC composites with 50, 60, and 72 wt.% sulfur loading are prepared by a facile heat treatment method. Electrochemical performance of the as-prepared S/MC composites are measured by galvanostatic charge/discharge tests, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), with carbonate-based electrolyte of 1.0 M LiPF6/(PC-EC-DEC). The composite with 50 wt.% sulfur presents the optimized electrochemical performance, including the utilization of active sulfur, discharge capacity, and cycling stability. At the current density of 50 mA g−1, it can demonstrate a high initial discharge capacity of 1624.5 mAh g−1. Even at the current density of 800 mA g−1, the initial capacity of 1288.6 mAh g−1 can be obtained, and the capacity can still maintain at 522.8 mAh g−1 after 180 cycles. The remarkably improved electrochemical performance of the S/MC composite with 50 wt.% sulfur are attributed to the carbon matrix with microporous structure, which can effectively enhance the electrical conductivity of the sulfur cathode, suppress the loss of active material during charge/discharge processes, and restrain the migration of polysulfide ions to the lithium anode.

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Acknowledgments

The financial supports from NSFC (51403087, 51402129), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20140563, BK20130482, BK2012293), Research Funds for Senior Professionals of Jiangsu University (14JDG027), and Open Project of Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Green Synthetic for Functional Materials (K201313) in China are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Automotive Engineering Research Institute, Jiangsu University, 212013, Zhenjiang, China

    Guochun Li, Huanhuan Li, Liang Liu, Chaochun Yuan, Haobin Jiang & Long Chen

  2. Institute of New Energy Materials Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071, Tianjin, China

    Hangkun Jing

  3. School of Material Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, 212013, Zhenjiang, China

    Yaping Wang

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  1. Guochun Li
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  2. Hangkun Jing
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  3. Huanhuan Li
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  4. Liang Liu
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  5. Yaping Wang
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  6. Chaochun Yuan
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  7. Haobin Jiang
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  8. Long Chen
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Correspondence to Guochun Li.

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Authors Guochun Li and Hangkun Jing contributed equally to this work.

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Li, G., Jing, H., Li, H. et al. Sulfur/microporous carbon composites for Li-S battery. Ionics 21, 2161–2170 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-015-1414-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-015-1414-2

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