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Hollow Carbon Nanofibers Filled with MnO 2 Nanosheets as Efficient Sulfur Hosts for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries
Author(s) -
Li Zhen,
Zhang Jintao,
Lou Xiong Wen David
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201506972
Subject(s) - polysulfide , sulfur , materials science , dissolution , nanofiber , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , carbon fibers , redox , electrode , carbon nanofiber , lithium (medication) , cathode , nanotechnology , composite number , chemistry , carbon nanotube , composite material , metallurgy , electrolyte , medicine , endocrinology , engineering
Lithium–sulfur batteries have been investigated as promising electrochemical‐energy storage systems owing to their high theoretical energy density. Sulfur‐based cathodes must not only be highly conductive to enhance the utilization of sulfur, but also effectively confine polysulfides to mitigate their dissolution. A new physical and chemical entrapment strategy is based on a highly efficient sulfur host, namely hollow carbon nanofibers (HCFs) filled with MnO 2 nanosheets. Benefiting from both the HCFs and birnessite‐type MnO 2 nanosheets, the MnO 2 @HCF hybrid host not only facilitates electron and ion transfer during the redox reactions, but also efficiently prevents polysulfide dissolution. With a high sulfur content of 71 wt % in the composite and an areal sulfur mass loading of 3.5 mg cm −2 in the electrode, the MnO 2 @HCF/S electrode delivered a specific capacity of 1161 mAh g −1 (4.1 mAh cm −2 ) at 0.05 C and maintained a stable cycling performance at 0.5 C over 300 cycles.