Sole Chemical Confinement of Polysulfides on Nonporous Nitrogen/Oxygen Dual-Doped Carbon at the Kilogram Scale for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

The exploration of inexpensive, facile, and large-scale methods to prepare carbon scaffolds for high sulfur loadings is crucial for the advancement of Li-S batteries (LSBs). Herein, the authors report a new nitrogen and oxygen in situ dual-doped nonporous carbonaceous material (NONPCM) that is composed of a myriad of graphene-analogous particles. Importantly, NONPCM could be fabricated on a kilogram scale via inexpensive and green hydrothermal-carbonization-combined methods. Many active sites on the NONPCM surface are accessible for the efficient surface-chemistry confinement of guest sulfur and its discharge product; this confinement is exclusive of physical entrapment, considering the low surface area. Electrochemical examination demonstrates excellent cycle stability and rate performance of the NONPCM (K)/S composite, even with a sulfur loading of 80 or 90 wt%. Hence, the scaffolds for LSBs exhibit potential for industrialization through further optimization and expansion of the present synthesis.