Highly dispersed sulfur in a porous aromatic framework as a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are attractive candidates for transportation applications because of their high energy density (2600 W h kg(-1)). However, Li-S batteries have failed to achieve commercial success, due to the rapid capacity fading with cycling caused mainly by the shuttle'' phenomenon. Here, we report a feasible approach to mitigate this issue using a porous aromatic framework (PAF) as a hosting substrate in Li-S batteries. As a cathode material, the composite of PAF with sulfur exhibits high capacity and excellent cycling stability in both a sulfone electrolyte, 1.0 M LiPF6-MiPS, and an ionic liquid electrolyte, 0.5 M LiTFSI-MPPY center dot TFSI.