Three-Dimensional Engineering of Sulfur/MnO2 Composites for High-Rate Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Herein, a three-dimensional interconnected sulfur (3DIS) system is used to construct a cathode of the lithium-sulfur battery. Compared with the traditional methods of encapsulating sulfur, the 3DIS system serves as a framework to grow MnO2, which ensures a high sulfur content of 91.5 wt % (the ratio of sulfur/host was 10.8) and a uniform distribution of sulfur. Due to the synergistic effect of the 3D interconnected architecture and the uniform coating layer of polar MnO2, 3DIS@MnO2 (3DISMO) delivers a capacity of 891 mA h g(-1) after 900 cycles at 1 C. Even at a rate of 10 C, a capacity decay rate of 0.061% per cycle is achieved.

Automated summary

In this study, a three-dimensional interconnected sulfur system is utilized to create a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries, achieving high sulfur content and uniform distribution. The synergistic effect of the 3D interconnected architecture and uniform coating layer of MnO2 leads to excellent cycling performance with a high capacity retention even at high rates.