Abstract
Rechargeable lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) are emerging as some of the most promising next-generation battery alternatives to state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high gravimetric energy density, being inexpensive, and having an abundance of elemental sulfur (S8). However, one main, well-known drawback of LSBs is the so-called polysulfide shuttling, where the polysulfide dissolves into organic electrolytes from sulfur host materials. Numerous studies have shown the ability of porous carbon as a sulfur host material. Porous carbon can significantly impede polysulfide shuttling and mitigate the insulating passivation layers, such as Li2S, owing to its intrinsic high electrical conductivity. This work suggests a scalable and straightforward one-step synthesis method to prepare a unique interconnected microporous and mesoporous carbon framework via salt templating with a eutectic mixture of LiI and KI at 800 °C in an inert atmosphere. The synthesis step used environmentally friendly water as a washing solvent to remove salt from the carbon–salt mixture. When employed as a sulfur host material, the electrode exhibited an excellent capacity of 780 mAh g−1 at 500 mA g−1 and a sulfur loading mass of 2 mg cm−2 with a minor capacity loss of 0.36% per cycle for 100 cycles. This synthesis method of a unique porous carbon structure could provide a new avenue for the development of an electrode with a high retention capacity and high accommodated sulfur for electrochemical energy storage applications.
Highlights
Efficient energy storage demand is growing to a greater extent
This study focused on the synthesis of microporous amorphous carbon using the LiI/KI eutectic salts mixture with the high-temperature solvent method from the nature-abundant biomass of glucose
The melting temperature of the eutectic salt mixture of LiI/KI was about 275 ◦C; the polyaromatic condensation of glucose occurred in the liquid phase salt mixtures
Summary
Efficient energy storage demand is growing to a greater extent. The steady market of portable devices, vehicle electrification, aviation, robotics, marine, military, and grid-scale energy reserve strategies has inspired advanced research into energy stockpile mechanisms [1]. In large power packs for hybrid electric vehicles, a lack of heat management could cause an explosion [2]. For LIBs, it is hard to achieve an energy density of ~240 Wh kg−1 [3]. The alternative energy storage system of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) is a potential claimant from various perspectives. The theoretical energy density for lithium–sulfur batteries is 2600 Wh kg−1 or 2800 Wh L−1 [4]. From a chemical point of view, sulfur, as an active material, causes a multistep redox reaction in charge and discharge mechanisms [7]. Each sulfur atom provides two electrons; LSBs retain their high specific capacity and energy density, where the active material of LIBs generates a single electron [8,9]
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