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Effects of physical properties of N-doped carbon on carbon/N-doped carbon/sulfur composite cathodes

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Abstract

Non-polar porous carbon/doped polar carbon composite hosts have been proved effective for sulfur in lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery. Pores in carbon can adsorb sulfur and Li2S, and nitrogen–doped surface shows a stronger affinity for polysulfides through additional chemisorptions. However, how the physical properties of doped carbon, e.g., surface area and porosity, affect the performance of the non-polar carbon/doped polar carbon composite hosts is unknown. Herein, we reported the cotton-derived carbon/porous 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (Emim-dca) derived N-doped carbon, named C/PNC, and the cotton-derived carbon/imporous Emim-dca derived N-doped carbon, named C/NC. The surface area and porosity of the doped polar carbon in C/PNC and C/NC are controlled. The higher surface area of N-doped carbon makes more surface of cotton-derived carbon coated and more sulfur located on the surface of composite hosts. The micro-mesopores in the N-doped carbon can restrain sulfur but shows slow reactive kinetics at a higher current rate. The C/PNC cathode showed a higher discharge capacity of 1100 mAh g−1 than that of 1027 mAh g−1 for the C/NC cathode at 0.1 C and a lower capacity of 208.1 mAh g−1 than that of 349.2 mAh g−1 for C/NC cathode at 2 C.

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Funding

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51902275), the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2020JJ4288), the Special Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Intense Pulsed Radiation Simulation and Effect (No. SKLIPR1911), the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (No. 20B225 and 20B560), and Open Fund of Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for New Energy Storage and Conversion (2018TP1037-202002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, Hunan, China

    Juanjuan Cheng

  2. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for New Energy Storage and Conversion, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, Hunan, China

    Juanjuan Cheng

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

    Zhijin Wang, Hongjia Song, Xiangli Zhong & Jinbin Wang

  4. Key Laboratory of Low-dimensional Materials and Application Technology, Xiangtan University, Hunan Xiangtan, 411105, China

    Hongjia Song, Xiangli Zhong & Jinbin Wang

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  1. Juanjuan Cheng
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  2. Zhijin Wang
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  3. Hongjia Song
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Correspondence to Hongjia Song.

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Cheng, J., Wang, Z., Song, H. et al. Effects of physical properties of N-doped carbon on carbon/N-doped carbon/sulfur composite cathodes. Ionics 27, 3271–3279 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04097-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04097-8

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