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Title: Covalently Grafted Polysulfur–Graphene Nanocomposites for Ultrahigh Sulfur-Loading Lithium–Polysulfur Batteries

Journal Article · · ACS Energy Letters

Although lithium–polysulfur (Li–polyS) batteries employing organic polymeric sulfur as a cathode material outperform the lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery system, the relatively low sulfur loading (<2 mg cm–2) in the current Li–polyS batteries compromises the areal capacity, constraining their practicality. We present here a new cathode active material (a covalently grafted polysulfur–graphene nanocomposite (polySGN)) for ultrahigh-loading Li–polyS batteries. The new cathode active material polySGN offers several advantages: (i) the well-dispersed graphene sheets offer highly electrically conductive pathways for electrons to travel within the polySGN matrix; (ii) the intermediate organosulfide moieties alleviate irreversible sulfide deposition on electrodes; and (iii) the in situ formed coating layer on the cathode-side surface of the polymeric separator further reduces polysulfide migration. In conclusion, the Li–polyS batteries employing polySGN as the cathode active material accomplish the highest sulfur loading (up to 10.5 mg cm–2) and the highest areal capacity (~12 mA h cm–2) reported thus far in the literature.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0007218
OSTI ID:
1487468
Journal Information:
ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 1; ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 54 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (12)

A 3D Nitrogen-Doped Graphene/TiN Nanowires Composite as a Strong Polysulfide Anchor for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Enhanced Rate Performance and High Areal Capacity journal September 2018
Recent Advances in Applying Vulcanization/Inverse Vulcanization Methods to Achieve High-Performance Sulfur-Containing Polymer Cathode Materials for Li-S Batteries journal August 2018
Facile preparation of ultrafine Ti 4 O 7 nanoparticle-embedded porous carbon for high areal capacity lithium–sulfur batteries journal January 2018
Structural Design of Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: From Fundamental Research to Practical Application journal June 2018
Progress on the Critical Parameters for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries to be Practically Viable journal May 2018
Elucidating the reaction kinetics of lithium–sulfur batteries by operando XRD based on an open-hollow S@MnO 2 cathode journal January 2019
A multi-functional interface derived from thiol-modified mesoporous carbon in lithium–sulfur batteries journal January 2019
2D MXene nanosheets enable small-sulfur electrodes to be flexible for lithium–sulfur batteries journal January 2019
Wet-spinning assembly of continuous and macroscopic graphene oxide/polyacrylonitrile reinforced composite fibers with enhanced mechanical properties and thermal stability: Wet-spinning assembly of continuous and macroscopic graphene oxide/polyacrylonitrile journal July 2018
Synthesis and Applications of Polymers Made by Inverse Vulcanization journal May 2019
Trapping of Polysulfides with Sulfur‐Rich Poly Ionic Liquid Cathode Materials for Ultralong‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries journal January 2020
Current Status and Future Prospects of Metal–Sulfur Batteries journal May 2019