Fabrication of sulfur-impregnated porous carbon nanostructured electrodes via dual-mode activation for lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

We report the facile synthesis of a porous-carbon (PC) nanostructure via a dual-mode activation process. Its PC nanostructure, which was activated via the release of HF and NaOH during a pyrolysis of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene), provided a large surface area above 2000m2g−1. The fabricated PC was composited with sulfur via melt diffusion (PC/S), and the resulting compound was evaluated with galvanostatic cycling for use in applications of lithium–sulfur batteries. The PC/S electrode demonstrated over 730mAhg−1 of reversible capacity after 100 cycles.