Densely Branched Carbon Nanotubes for Boosting the Electrochemical Performance of Li‐S Batteries

• Published in: ChemSusChem 2024-11, Vol.17 (21), p.e202400799-n/a
• Main Authors: Zheng, Shuoran, Gao, Yifan, Xia, Shenxin, Qiu, Junjie, Xi, Xiangyun, Li, Jianfeng, Li, Tongtao, Yang, Dong, Dong, Angang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Branched carbon nanotubes; Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Catalytic activity; Catalytic converters; Chemical synthesis; Electrical resistivity; Electrocatalyst; Electrochemical analysis; Interlayers; Iron; Lithium sulfur batteries; Lithium-sulfur battery; Nickel; NiFe2O4 nanoparticles; Polydopamine; Polysulfides; Reaction kinetics
• ISSN: 1864-5631; 1864-564X; 1864-564X
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202400799

To address the inherent limitations of conventional carbon nanotubes (CNTs), such as their tendency to agglomerate and scarcity of catalytic sites, the development of branched carbon nanotubes (BCNTs) with a unique hierarchical structure has emerged as a promising solution. Herein, gram scale quantities of densely branched and structurally consistent Ni−Fe decorated branched CNTs (Ni−Fe@BCNT) have been prepared. This uniform and densely branched architecture ensures excellent dispersibility and superior electrical conductivity. Additionally, each branched tip is equipped with Ni−Fe particles, thereby providing numerous catalytic sites which endow them with exceptional catalytic activity for the conversion of polysulfides. The polypropylene (PP) separator modified with Ni−Fe@BCNT interlayer is fabricated as a multifunctional barrier for Li–S batteries. The experimental results demonstrate that Ni−Fe@BCNT interlayer can effectively suppress the shuttle effect of polysulfides and enhance their redox kinetics. The outstanding catalytic ability of Ni−Fe@BCNT interlayer enables batteries with high specific capacities, outstanding rate performance, and remarkable cycling stability. This approach proposed in this work paves a new path for synthesizing BCNTs and shows great potential for scaling up the production of BCNTs to address more demanding applications. In this work, a scalable synthesis of densely branched and structurally consistent Ni−Fe decorated branched carbon nanotubes (Ni−Fe@BCNT) was achieved. By applying Ni−Fe@BCNTs as an interlayer for Li−S batteries, the material can effectively mitigate the shuttle effect of polysulfides and enhance their redox kinetics, enabling batteries with high specific capacities, outstanding rate performance, and remarkable cycling stability.