Flexible and lightweight interlayer boosts lithium-sulfur batteries for wide temperature range applications

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) have been extensively investigated in view of their ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity, whereas their practical applications are restricted by various factors such as the shuttle effect, sluggish reaction kinetics, and extreme temperature conditions. Herein, the carbonized cotton tissue (CCT) is developed as an interlayer for LSBs due to the accessibility of the materials and the tunability of the structure. The CCT obtained at the optimized carbonization temperature can simultaneously possess favorable structural stability and exceptional conductivity. Benefiting from the CCT interlayer, LSBs with a sulfur loading of 2 mg cm−2 can deliver excellent cycling performance (966 mAh g−1@0.2 C and 756 mAh g−1@1 C) and exceptional rate performance (648 mAh g−1@2 C). Furthermore, the strategy of equipping LSBs with the CCT interlayer has been proven to be effective in a wide temperature range, and the mechanism of which has been explored in depth as well. Specifically, the batteries can deliver high capacities of 1072 mAh g−1 and 650 mAh g−1 at 50 °C and 0 °C, respectively. The present work provides significant insight into the commercial viability of LSBs.