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Graphene-decorated sphere Li2S composite prepared by spray drying method as cathode for lithium-sulfur full cell

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Abstract

In this work, a graphene-decorated Li2S cathode has been prepared via spray drying method using Li2SO4, graphene oxide and sucrose as raw materials. During spray drying, sucrose melts and embeds Li2SO4 when Li2SO4 were sprayed out with graphene oxide and sucrose, and becomes sphere particles. The as-prepared Li2S composite was received after a heat treatment under nitrogen atmosphere. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the cubic structure of Li2S and scanning electron microscope images reveal that Li2S and carbon components stay in sphere structure with diameter around 20 μm. The sphere Li2S composite shows enhanced performance when acts as cathode. Under current density of 100 mA g−1, a specific discharge capacity of 778 mAh g−1 has been achieved and the battery cycled over 60 rounds. Furtherly, the sphere composite was coupled with silicon/graphite anode to construct full cell system, suggesting large possibility to work with the current lithium-ion battery anodes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the union project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Guangdong Province (U1601214), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2017A030310166), the Scientific and Technological Plan of Guangdong Province (2016A050503040, 2016B010114002, and 2017B090901027), the Scientific and Technological Plan of Guangzhou City (201607010322, 201607010274), the LanDun information security technology open fund (LD20170210), and the Innovation Project of the Graduate School of South China Normal University (20161217).

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  1. Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Efficient Green Energy and Environment Protection Materials, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Shaofeng Wang, Hedong Chen, Zeming Zhong, Xianhua Hou, Shejun Hu & Junjun Wu

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  1. Shaofeng Wang
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Correspondence to Xianhua Hou.

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Wang, S., Chen, H., Zhong, Z. et al. Graphene-decorated sphere Li2S composite prepared by spray drying method as cathode for lithium-sulfur full cell. Ionics 24, 3385–3392 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-018-2493-7

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