High-Performance Lithium Sulfur Batteries Based on Multidimensional Graphene-CNT-Nanosulfur Hybrid Cathodes

Although lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are one of the promising candidates for next-generation energy storage, their practical implementation is limited by rapid capacity fading due to lithium polysulfide (LiPSs) formation and the low electronic conductivity of sulfur. Herein, we report a high-performance lithium-sulfur battery based on multidimensional cathode architecture consisting of nanosulfur, graphene nanoplatelets (2D) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (1D). The ultrasonic synthesis method results in the generation of sulfur nanoparticles and their intercalation into the multilayered graphene nanoplatelets. The optimized multidimensional graphene-sulfur-CNT hybrid cathode (GNS58-CNT10) demonstrated a high specific capacity (1067 mAh g(-1) @ 50 mA g(-1)), rate performance (539 @ 1 A g(-1)), coulombic efficiency (similar to 95%) and cycling stability (726 mAh g(-1) after 100 cycles @ 200 mA g(-1)) compared to the reference cathode. Superior electrochemical performances are credited to the encapsulation of nanosulfur between the individual layers of graphene nanoplatelets with high electronic conductivity, and effective polysulfide trapping by MWCNT bundles.

Automated summary

The optimized multidimensional graphene-sulfur-CNT hybrid cathode shows superior specific capacity, rate performance, coulombic efficiency, and cycling stability compared to the reference cathode. This is attributed to the encapsulation of nanosulfur between the individual layers of graphene nanoplatelets with high electronic conductivity, and effective polysulfide trapping by MWCNT bundles.