A mesoporous carbon–sulfur composite as cathode material for high rate lithium sulfur batteries

Journal Article · Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Materials Research Bulletin

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATERRESBULL.2014.03.023· OSTI ID:22420593

Choi, Hyunji; Zhao, Xiaohui; Kim, Dul-Sun ^[1]; Ahn, Hyo-Jun; Kim, Ki-Won ^[2]; Cho, Kwon-Koo ^[2]; Ahn, Jou-Hyeon ^[1]

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1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Research Institute for Green Energy Convergence Technology, Gyeongsang National University, 900, Gajwa-dong, Jinju 660-701 (Korea, Republic of)
2. Department of Materials Engineering and Convergence Technology, Gyeongsang National University, 900, Gajwa-dong, Jinju 660-701 (Korea, Republic of)

Highlights: • CMK-3 mesoporous carbon was synthesized as conducting reservoir for housing sulfur. • Sulfur/CMK-3 composites were prepared by two-stage thermal treatment. • The composite at 300 °C for 20 h shows improved electrochemical properties. - Abstract: Sulfur composite was prepared by encapsulating sulfur into CMK-3 mesoporous carbon with different heating times and then used as the cathode material for lithium sulfur batteries. Thermal treatment at 300 °C plays an important role in the sulfur encapsulation process. With 20 h of heating time, a portion of sulfur remained on the surface of carbon, whereas with 60 h of heating time, sulfur is confined deeply in the small pores of carbon that cannot be fully exploited in the redox reaction, thus causing low capacity. The S/CMK-3 composite with thermal treatment for 40 h at 300 °C contained 51.3 wt.% sulfur and delivered a high initial capacity of 1375 mA h g{sup −1} at 0.1 C. Moreover, it showed good capacity retention of 704 mA h g{sup −1} at 0.1 C and 578 mA h g{sup −1} at 2 C even after 100 cycles, which proves its potential as a cathode material for high capability lithium sulfur batteries.

• OSTI ID: 22420593
• Journal Information: Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 58; Conference: IFFM2013: International forum on functional materials, Jeju City (Korea, Republic of), 27-29 Jun 2013; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CAPACITY
CARBON
CATHODES
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ENCAPSULATION
ENERGY STORAGE
HEAT TREATMENTS
HEATING
LITHIUM-SULFUR BATTERIES
NANOSTRUCTURES
POTENTIALS
REDOX REACTIONS
RETENTION
SULFUR
SURFACES
SYNTHESIS