High-Efficiency Hybrid Sulfur Cathode Based on Electroactive Niobium Tungsten Oxide and Conductive Carbon Nanotubes for All-Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Abstract

All-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries (ASSLSBs) have become a promising candidate because of their high energy density and safety. To ensure the high utilization and electrochemical capacity of sulfur in all-solid-state batteries, both the electronic and ionic conductivities of the sulfur cathode should be as high as possible. In this work, an intercalation-conversion hybrid cathode is proposed by distributing sulfur evenly on electroactive niobium tungsten oxide (Nb18W16O93) and conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for achieving high performance ASSLSBs. Herein, Nb18W16O93 shows good electrochemical lithium storage in the hybrid cathode, which could serve as an effective Li-ion/electron conductor for the conversion of sulfur in the discharge/charge processes to achieve a high utilization of sulfur. However, CNTs could further increase the electronic conductivity of the hybrid cathode by constructing good conductive frameworks and suppress the volumetric fluctuation during the interconversion of sulfur and Li2S. With this strategy, the S/Nb18W16O93/CNT cathode achieves a high sulfur utilization of 91% after one cycle activation with a high gravimetric capacity of 1526 mA h g-1. In addition, excellent rate performance is also obtained at 0.5 C with a reversible capacity of 1262 mA h g-1 after 1000 cycles. This work offers a new perspective to develop ASSLSBs.