Improving the Performance of Lithium-Sulfur Battery by Blocking Sulfur Diffusing Paths on the Host Materials

The practical applications of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have been impeded by the dissolution problem of the polysulfides. It is worthwhile to develop new strategies aiming at solving this problem. In this work, we have proved that by blocking the sulfur diffusing paths on the host materials, soluble polysulfides can be hold back to diminish their dissolution into electrolyte. In a case study, through simply coating polypyrrole (PPy) on the sulfur loaded hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) and blocking the micro tunnels on their shell, the high-performance cathode of PPy superset of HCSs superset of S has been achieved with a reversible capacity of 840 mAhg(-1) after 100 cycles. (C) 2014 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.