Composite cathode material based on sulfur and microporous carbon for Li–S batteries

Abstract

In this work, a new cathode material for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries was developed. Microporous carbon (with predominant pore size £1.2 nm) served as both a matrix for sulfur retention and conductive additive. Microporous carbon was shown to be capable of adsorbing lithium polysulfides thereby suppressing their migration toward lithium anode. The discharge capacity of the S/C composite at the 1st and 20th cycles in Li–S battery operation was 513 and 421 mAh g–1 at a scan rate of 0.1 mV s–1.