Biomass-Derived Oxygen and Nitrogen Co-Doped Porous Carbon with Hierarchical Architecture as Sulfur Hosts for High-Performance Lithium/Sulfur Batteries

Yan Zhao; Li Wang; Lanyan Huang; Maxim Yu Maximov; Mingliang Jin; Yongguang Zhang; Xin Wang; Guofu Zhou

doi:10.3390/nano7110402

Biomass-Derived Oxygen and Nitrogen Co-Doped Porous Carbon with Hierarchical Architecture as Sulfur Hosts for High-Performance Lithium/Sulfur Batteries

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2017 Nov 21;7(11):402. doi: 10.3390/nano7110402.

Authors

Yan Zhao¹, Li Wang², Lanyan Huang^{3

4}, Maxim Yu Maximov⁵, Mingliang Jin^{6

7}, Yongguang Zhang^{8

9}, Xin Wang^{10

11}, Guofu Zhou^{12

13}

Affiliations

¹ International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing, South China Normal University, Zhaoqing 526060; China. zhaoyan84830@hotmail.com.
² Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. li.wang@guohua-oet.com.
³ International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing, South China Normal University, Zhaoqing 526060; China. lanyan.huang@zq-scnu.org.
⁴ Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. lanyan.huang@zq-scnu.org.
⁵ Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint-Petersburg 195221, Russia. maximspbstu@mail.ru.
⁶ International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing, South China Normal University, Zhaoqing 526060; China. jinml@scnu.edu.cn.
⁷ Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. jinml@scnu.edu.cn.
⁸ International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing, South China Normal University, Zhaoqing 526060; China. yongguang.zhang@zq-scnu.org.
⁹ Synergy Innovation Institute of GDUT, Heyuan 517000, China. yongguang.zhang@zq-scnu.org.
¹⁰ International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing, South China Normal University, Zhaoqing 526060; China. wangxin@scnu.edu.cn.
¹¹ Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. wangxin@scnu.edu.cn.
¹² International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing, South China Normal University, Zhaoqing 526060; China. guofu.zhou@m.scnu.edu.cn.
¹³ Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. guofu.zhou@m.scnu.edu.cn.

Abstract

In this work, a facile strategy to synthesize oxygen and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (ONPC) is reported by one-step pyrolysis of waste coffee grounds. As-prepared ONPC possesses highly rich micro/mesopores as well as abundant oxygen and nitrogen co-doping, which is applied to sulfur hosts as lithium/sulfur batteries' appropriate cathodes. In battery testing, the sulfur/oxygen and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (S/ONPC) composite materials reveal a high initial capacity of 1150 mAh·g^-1 as well as a reversible capacity of 613 mAh·g^-1 after the 100th cycle at 0.2 C. Furthermore, when current density increases to 1 C, a discharge capacity of 331 mAh·g^-1 is still attainable. Due to the hierarchical porous framework and oxygen/nitrogen co-doping, the S/ONPC composite exhibits a high utilization of sulfur and good electrochemical performance via the immobilization of the polysulfides through strong chemical binding.

Keywords: composite cathode; hierarchically porous carbon; lithium/sulfur battery; oxygen and nitrogen co-doping.