Strong Lithium Polysulfide Chemisorption on Electroactive Sites of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Composites For High-Performance Lithium–Sulfur Battery Cathodes

Journal Article · Fri Mar 27 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Angewandte Chemie (International Edition)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201411109· OSTI ID:1244990

Song, Jiangxuan; Gordin, Mikhail; Xu, Terrence; Chen, Shuru; Yu, Zhaoxin; Sohn, Hiesang; Lu, Jun; Ren, Yang; Duan, Yuhua; wang, Donghai

Despite the high theoretical capacity of lithium–sulfur batteries, their practical applications are severely hindered by a fast capacity decay, stemming from the dissolution and diffusion of lithium polysulfides in the electrolyte. A novel functional carbon composite (carbon-nanotube-interpenetrated mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon spheres, MNCS/CNT), which can strongly adsorb lithium polysulfides, is now reported to act as a sulfur host. The nitrogen functional groups of this composite enable the effective trapping of lithium polysulfides on electroactive sites within the cathode, leading to a much improved electrochemical performance (1200 mAh g^-1 after 200 cycles). The enhancement in adsorption can be attributed to the chemical bonding of lithium ions by nitrogen functional groups in the MNCS/CNT framework. Furthermore, the micrometer-sized spherical structure of the material yields a high areal capacity (ca. 6 mAh cm^-2) with a high sulfur loading of approximately 5 mg cm^-2, which is ideal for practical applications of the lithium–sulfur batteries.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - Office of FreedomCar and Vehicle Technologies
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1244990
• Journal Information: Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), Journal Name: Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) Journal Issue: 14 Vol. 54; ISSN 1433-7851
• Publisher: Wiley
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

carbon materials
chemisorption
doping
electrochemistry
lithium–sulfur batteries