Strings of Porous Carbon Polyhedrons as Self-Standing Cathode Host for High-Energy-Density Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Yazhi Liu; Gaoran Li; Jing Fu; Zhongwei Chen; Xinsheng Peng

doi:10.1002/anie.201700686

Strings of Porous Carbon Polyhedrons as Self-Standing Cathode Host for High-Energy-Density Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 May 22;56(22):6176-6180. doi: 10.1002/anie.201700686. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

Authors

Yazhi Liu¹, Gaoran Li², Jing Fu², Zhongwei Chen², Xinsheng Peng¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Rd, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.

PMID: 28326659
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201700686

Abstract

Rational design of cathode hosts with high electrical conductivity and strong sulfur confinement is a great need for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries. Herein, we report a self-standing, hybrid-nanostructured cathode host comprised of metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived porous carbon polyhedrons and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the significant improvement of both the electrode cyclability and energy density. The strong coupling of the intertwined CNTs and strung porous carbon polyhedrons as a binder-free thin film significantly enhances the long-range electronic conductivity and provides abundant active interfaces as well as robust electrode integrity for sulfur electrochemistry. Attributed to the synergistic combination of the CNTs and carbon polyhedrons, the obtained sulfur electrodes exhibit outstanding cyclability, an excellent high-rate response up to 10 C, and an ultra-high volumetric capacity of 960 Ah L^-1 .

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; energy storage; high energy density; lithium-sulfur batteries; metal-organic frameworks.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't