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Low‐Temperature Synthesis of a Sulfur‐Polyacrylonitrile Composite Cathode for Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries
Author(s) -
Páez Jerez Ana L.,
Chemes Doly M.,
Sham Edgardo L.,
Davies Lilian E.,
Tesio Alvaro Y.,
Flexer Victoria
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistryselect
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2365-6549
DOI - 10.1002/slct.202001529
Subject(s) - polyacrylonitrile , sulfur , cathode , materials science , composite number , lithium (medication) , electrochemistry , chemical engineering , battery (electricity) , lithium–sulfur battery , composite material , electrode , chemistry , polymer , metallurgy , medicine , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , endocrinology
Abstract Through a novel synthesis process, a novel sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) composite, noted as DH‐150‐300‐SPAN, was prepared and tested as cathode material for lithium sulfur (Li−S) batteries. The reported process involves two heating steps at low temperature. The first plateau at 150 °C melts elemental sulfur, while the second, at 300 °C, produces the cycling of polyacrylonitrile, and incorporates sulfur to the cyclic polymeric structure. A fully morphological and electrochemical characterization was carried out. The SPAN composite contains (38.3 ± 0.2) % S. Li−S batteries assembled using these cathodes have shown good performance, reaching high and stable capacity values, above 1000 mAh g S - 1after 150 cycles at 0.1 C. This is the first time that stable cycling is achieved for a SPAN composite synthesized at such low temperatures and for short heating treatments. Our work describes an easy route to prepare a promising candidate for cathode material of Li−S batteries by using a low‐cost process and low‐cost materials.