Investigating the impact of mesoporous and microporous carbon host materials on the performance of sulfur cathodes in Zinc-Sulfur batteries

Abstract

The zinc-sulfur (Zn-S) batteries have attracted extensive research due to its high energy density and safety. However, numerous research focus has focused on optimizing the aqueous electrolyte, the effect of different confinement effects of carbon pores on sulfur on batteries is unclear. In this work, the effects of mesoporous and microporous hosts on electrochemical performance were investigated in detail. The microporous carbon structure provides higher confinement ability for sulfur compared to mesoporous carbon. Ex-situ XRD, EDS mapping, and XPS Ar ion etching techniques were utilized to analyze the factors contributing to the capacity decay of sulfur cathode materials. The insights gained from this study will not only enhance our understanding of the electrochemical behavior of Zn-S batteries, but also provide potential strategies for improving their performance.