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Title: Large-diameter and heteroatom-doped graphene nanotubes decorated with transition metals as carbon hosts for lithium–sulfur batteries

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Chemistry. A
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C9TA02889G· OSTI ID:1515154

This work addresses here performance issues of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries via retaining the polysulfide intermediates within a novel cathode nanocarbon host. Herein, we report a series of nitrogen and oxygen co-doped and transition metal-decorated large size (200–500 nm in diameter) graphene nanotubes (M-GNTs) (M = Co, Ni, and/or Fe) as effective carbon hosts for sulfur cathodes (S@M-GNTs) in Li–S batteries. The exceptionally large diameters of the graphene tubes allow facile diffusion of sulfur inside the tubes with sufficient loadings, yet leaving room for volume expansion during the lithiation process. The GNTs with the largest diameter and abundant N and O doping along with FeCoNi alloy decoration (FeCoNi-GNTs) exhibit the best sulfur cathode performance. In addition to the unique nanocarbon structures, the heteroatom dopants and transition metal nanoparticles likely also play promotional roles in retaining long-chain polysulfide discharge intermediates within the carbon host, therefore improving rate capability and cycle stability. In particular, a S@FeCoNi-GNT cathode with a high sulfur loading (~4.5 mgS cm-2) exhibits discharge capacities up to 1234.7 mA h g-1 at C/20 and 909.0 mA h g-1 at C/5. A discharge capacity of 554.4 mA h g-1 at 1C after 500 cycles was retained, further demonstrating its encouraging potential in Li–S batteries.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; CBET-1604392
OSTI ID:
1515154
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1514729
Report Number(s):
BNL-211690-2019-JAAM
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Chemistry. A, Vol. 7; ISSN 2050-7488
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 23 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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