Sulfur Nanodots Electrodeposited on Ni Foam as High-Performance Cathode for Li–S Batteries

• Published in: Nano letters 2015-01, Vol.15 (1), p.721-726
• Main Authors: Zhao, Qing, Hu, Xiaofei, Zhang, Kai, Zhang, Ning, Hu, Yuxiang, Chen, Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon; Cathodes; Cycles; Foams; Lithium sulfur batteries; Nanostructure; Nickel; Sulfur
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl504263m

In this Letter, we report the preparation of sulfur nanodots (2 nm average) electrodeposited on flexible nickel foam and their application as high-performance cathode of Li–S batteries. An electrodepostion method was applied to prepare the cathode at room temperature and the sulfur mass was controllable from 0.21 to 4.79 mg/cm2 in a large area of over 100 cm2. The optimized cathode with 0.45 mg/cm2 S on Ni foam displayed high initial discharge capacity (1458 mAh/g at 0.1 C), high rate capability (521 mAh/g at 10 C), and long cycling stability (895 mAh/g after 300 cycles at 0.5 C and 528 mAh/g after 1400 cycles at 5 C). Moreover, in situ Raman and transmission electron microscopy analysis demonstrated the fundamentals of reversible electrochemical reaction between S and Li2S nanodots. This fast, facile, and one-step cathode preparation method with excellent electrochemical performance will lead to technological advances of S cathode in Li–S batteries.