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A Nickel‐Decorated Carbon Flower/Sulfur Cathode for Lean‐Electrolyte Lithium–Sulfur Batteries
Author(s) -
Tsao Yuchi,
Gong Huaxin,
Chen Shucheng,
Chen Gan,
Liu Yunzhi,
Gao Theodore Z.,
Cui Yi,
Bao Zhenan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.202101449
Subject(s) - polysulfide , sulfur , materials science , electrolyte , chemical engineering , carbon fibers , cathode , nickel , sulfide , nanoparticle , nickel sulfide , lithium (medication) , sulfate , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , chemistry , composite material , metallurgy , composite number , medicine , endocrinology , engineering
Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries involve a reversible conversion reaction between sulfur and lithium sulfide (Li 2 S) via a series of soluble lithium polysulfide intermediates (LiPSs), enabling a high theoretical specific capacity of 1675 mAh g –1 . However, this process exhibits large polarization and low sulfur utilization and suffers critical capacity fade. The primary approach to tackle the problem has so far been to infiltrate sulfur into nanostructured carbon. However, most studies using porous carbon as host materials have tested with high electrolyte to sulfur ratios (E/S) (generally > 15 µL mg −1 ) that compromise the cell‐level energy density. Here, a flower‐shaped porous carbon structure with nickel nanoparticles that can address the problems discussed above is designed. First, the 3D flower‐shaped carbon structure enables short ionic transport lengths. Second, the small pore diameters <10 nm and high specific surface areas > 3300 m 2 g −1 with sufficient pore volume are ideal for charging performance for low E/S ratios. Finally, Ni nanoparticles are employed onto the flower‐shaped network to improve the reaction kinetics. Collectively, it is successfully demonstrated that the batteries with a high mass loading of 5 mg cm −2 and a 5 µL mg −1 E/S ratio can retain cycle retention of 70% after 150 cycles.