Gaseous-phase, silica-coated sulfur particles as a cathode material for high-performance lithium/sulfur batteries

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2017-06, Vol.28 (12), p.8901-8907
• Main Authors: Hou, Yongxuan, Xiao, Jianrong, Guo, Yafang, Qi, Meng, Jiang, Aihua, Li, Yanwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Batteries; Cathodes; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Electron microscopy; Flux density; Lithium; Lithium sulfur batteries; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Particulate composites; Rechargeable batteries; Silicon dioxide; Sulfur; Test procedures; Thermogravimetric analysis
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-017-6620-4

Lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries are one of the rechargeable batteries with high theoretical special capacity and high theoretical energy density. The gaseous-phase, silica (GPSiO 2 )-coated sulfur composites with different weight ratios were synthesized through solid-state fusion method as a novel cathode material for Li/S batteries. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and electrochemical testing methods were conducted to investigate the effect of gaseous-phase silica/sulfur composites on electrochemical performance. Results indicate that the composites have flocculent structure. The initial specific capacity of the GPSiO 2 /S-3:7 composite is up to 1610 mA h g −1 at 0.1 C, which is the highest in the different ratio composites and is approximately 96% of sulfur utilization. The specific capacity was maintained at 814 mA h g −1 after the 50th cycle. The GPSiO 2 /S-3:7 composite has the lowest impedance.