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Two-dimensional mesoporous B, N co-doped carbon nanosheets decorated with TiN nanostructures for enhanced performance lithium–sulfur batteries

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Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) mesoporous B, N co-doped carbon/TiN (BNC-TN) composites were synthesized for the first time via hydrogel method followed by an ionothermal route using polyvinyl alcohol, guanidine carbonate, and boric acid as the carbon, nitrogen, and boron sources, NH2-MIL-125 (Ti) as the TiN precursor. The as-synthesized BNC-TN not only possesses mesoporous 2D sheet-like structure, adjustable B, N co-doping and TiN content, but also effectively alleviates the lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) shuttle effect because of the porous framework, as well as polar TiN and doping heteroatoms as chemical anchors of LiPSs. S@BNC-TN cathode exhibited a high initial overall discharge capacity of 1130.9 mA h g−1 and a discharge capacity of 951.5 mA h g−1 after 50 cycles. This material offers a promising pathway to alleviate challenges facing lithium–sulfur batteries.

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Acknowledgements

The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51702239). The authors acknowledge funding through project 17QD60 from Wuhan Institute of Technology and funding through project X19D003 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

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  1. Yunbo Cao and Chengchong Wang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, Hubei, China

    Xiaohan Wang, Haijun Zhang & Feng Liang

  2. Hubei Provincial Research Centre of Engineering and Technology for New Energy Materials and Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Lab of Novel Reactor and Green Chemical Technology, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, Hubei, China

    Yunbo Cao, Chengchong Wang, Xingmao Jiang & Chunyan Xiong

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  1. Yunbo Cao
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Cao, Y., Wang, C., Wang, X. et al. Two-dimensional mesoporous B, N co-doped carbon nanosheets decorated with TiN nanostructures for enhanced performance lithium–sulfur batteries. Appl. Phys. A 127, 933 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-05068-6

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