Electrolytic Graphene Encapsulated CeO2 for Lithium-Sulfur Battery Interlayer Separator

Rare earth elements and graphenecomposites exhibit bettercatalyticproperties in energy storage materials. The introduction of rare earthoxide and graphene composites as functional layers into the separatorto seal the shuttle effect formed by polysulfidesduring the discharge process has proven to be effective. In this study,we prepared CeO2/graphene composites (labeled as CeG) byintercalation exfoliation and in situ electrodeposition methods simultaneously,in which CeO2 was encapsulated in large folds of graphene,which exhibited good defect levels (I (D)/I (G) < 1) and its intrinsically superiorphysical structure acted as a shielding layer to hinder the shuttleof polysulfides, improving the cycling stability and rate of cellperformance. The separator cell with CeG achieves an initial dischargespecific capacity of 1133.5 mAh/g at 0.5C, excellent rate performance(978.5 mAh/g at 2C), and long cycling (790 mAh/g after 400 cycles).

Automated summary

Rare earth elements and graphene composites have been shown to possess excellent catalytic properties in energy storage materials. In this study, CeO2/graphene composites were prepared using intercalation exfoliation and in situ electrodeposition methods simultaneously. These composites exhibited good defect levels and acted as a shielding layer to hinder the shuttle of polysulfides, resulting in improved cycling stability and rate performance of the cell. The separator cell with CeG showed an initial discharge specific capacity of 1133.5 mAh/g at 0.5C, excellent rate performance (978.5 mAh/g at 2C), and long cycling life (790 mAh/g after 400 cycles).