Ferroconcrete-inspired construction of self-supporting Li2S cathode for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Shiqi Li, Junjie Jiang, Zhihua Dong, Jun Wu, Zhiqun Cheng, Huacheng Zhu, Zhaoyang Fan, Yutian Wang, Dan Leng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Lithium sulfide (Li2S) cathode can pair with metallic-Li-free high-capacity anodes to avoid the notorious lithium dendrite growth and resulting serious safety hazards. However, its high sensitivity to moisture and oxygen makes time-consuming slurry-casting process not appropriate for Li2S cathode production. Herein, interconnected carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and porous carbon (PC) inlaid with Li2S (Li2S@PC@CNF) has been fabricated via a carbothermal reduction strategy by selecting a cost-effective and environmentally friendly precursor, i.e., bacterial cellulose (BC) hydrogel filled with glucose and Li2SO4. Self-supporting Li2S@PC@CNF could be directly applied as the cathode, thereby detouring the routinely needed slurry-casting procedure. CNFs serve as a network for electron transport and meanwhile a skeleton to support the free-standing Li2S@PC@CNF electrode, while PC seamlessly connects CNFs due to the initial hydrogen bonding between glucose and cellulose, providing physical confinement for lithium polysulfides and large interface area for electrochemical reaction. Thereby, due to its unique ferroconcrete-like architecture, Li2S@PC@CNF based LSBs delivers a high initial specific capacity of 700 mA h g−1 with 500 mA h g−1 retained after 400 cycles, and presents promising rate capability of 450 mA h g−1 at 2 C.

Original languageEnglish
Article number109822
JournalMicroporous and Mesoporous Materials
Volume293
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2020

Keywords

  • Carbon
  • Energy storage
  • Lithium-sulfur batteries
  • Supercapacitors

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