Abstract
The advantages of high energy density and low cost make lithium–sulfur batteries one of the most promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems. However, the electrical insulativity of sulfur and the serious shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) still impedes its further development. In this regard, a uniform hollow mesoporous Ni(OH)2@CNT microsphere was developed to address these issues. The SEM images show the Ni(OH)2 delivers an average size of about 5 μm, which is composed of nanosheets. The designed Ni(OH)2@CNT contains transition metal cations and interlayer anions, featuring the unique 3D spheroidal flower structure, decent porosity, and large surface area, which is highly conducive to conversion systems and electrochemical energy storage. As a result, the as-fabricated Li-S battery delivers the reversible capacity of 652 mAh g−1 after 400 cycles, demonstrating excellent capacity retention with a low average capacity loss of only 0.081% per cycle at 1 C. This work has shown that the Ni(OH)2@CNT sulfur host prepared by hydrothermal embraces delivers strong physical absorption as well as chemical affinity.
Highlights
Lithium–ion batteries (LIBs), commercialized since the 1990s, have been leading the secondary battery market [1,2]
Both X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the Ni(OH)2 and Ni(OH)2 @carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composite show three clearly characteristic peaks located at 19.8◦, 34◦ and 39.1◦, which correspond to (001), (100) and (012) lattice planes of Ni(OH)2 (JCPDS No.73-1520), respectively [47]
The sharp diffraction peaks demonstrated the good crystallinity of the as-synthesized Ni(OH)2 precursor
Summary
Lithium–ion batteries (LIBs), commercialized since the 1990s, have been leading the secondary battery market [1,2]. Sulfur and sulfides have poor electronic conductivity, resulting in low active materials utilization and specific capacity [13]. Based on the natural intrinsic conductivity and a stable skeleton structure, various porous carbon materials such as carbon nanospheres [16], graphene [17], carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [18], and carbide-derived carbons have been developed as cathodes for high performance Li-S batteries. ZnO [20], Co(OH)2 [21], and ZrO2 [22] showed excellent performance as sulfur host materials As expected, both metal oxides and metal hydroxides as S host cathodes exhibit high discharge capacity and excellent cycling stability [23–26]. We designed the CNTs reinforced hollow mesoporous Ni(OH) as a freestanding sulfur host matrix In this structure, CNTs were grown on Ni(OH) nanosheets and wrapped active sulfur nanoparticles as an effective carrier to enable confinement shuttle effect whilst promoting their reaction kinetics. The Li-S batteries assembled by Ni(OH)2 @CNT cathode obtained excellent electrochemical performance, which opens up a new way for the research of cathode materials for Li-S batteries
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