Hierarchically Structured Sulfur/Carbon Nanocomposite Material for High-Energy Lithium Battery

Hierarchically Structured Sulfur/Carbon Nanocomposite Material for High-Energy Lithium Battery

We report herein a hierarchically structured sulfur−carbon (S/C) nanocomposite material as the high surface-area cathode for rechargeable lithium batteries. A porous carbon with a uniform distribution of mesopores of 7.3 nm has been synthesized through a soft-template synthesis method. The potassium...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemistry of materials 2009-10, Vol.21 (19), p.4724-4730
Main Authors: Liang, Chengdu, Dudney, Nancy J, Howe, Jane Y
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
CARBON
Carbon Materials
CATHODES
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Electrochemistry
ENERGY STORAGE
LITHIUM
MATERIALS SCIENCE
MATERIALS TESTING
METAL-NONMETAL BATTERIES
NANOSTRUCTURES
PORE STRUCTURE
Porous Materials (including Meso- and Micro-Porous Materials)
SULFUR
SURFACE AREA
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Summary:We report herein a hierarchically structured sulfur−carbon (S/C) nanocomposite material as the high surface-area cathode for rechargeable lithium batteries. A porous carbon with a uniform distribution of mesopores of 7.3 nm has been synthesized through a soft-template synthesis method. The potassium hydroxide activation of this mesoporous carbon results in a bimodal porous carbon with added microporosity of less than 2 nm to the existing mesopores without deterioration of the integrity of the original mesoporous carbon. Elemental sulfur has been loaded to the micropores through a solution infiltration method. The resulted S/C composites with various loading level of sulfur have a high surface areas and large internal porosities. These materials have been tested as novel cathodes for Li/S batteries. The results show that the cyclability and the utilization of sulfur in the Li/S batteries have been significantly improved. The large internal porosity and surface area of the micromesoporous carbon is essential for the high utilization of sulfur.
ISSN:0897-4756
1520-5002