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Highly sulfur-loaded dual-conductive cathodes based on nanocellulose for lithium-sulfur batteries

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Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li–S) batteries have received great attention due to their high theoretical specific capacity and energy density, wide range of sulfur sources, and environmental compatibility. However, the development of Li–S batteries is limited by a series of problems such as the non-conductivity and volume expansion of the sulfur cathode and the shuttle of lithium polysulfide. It is frequently feasible to alleviate these difficulties by blending carbon-based conductive additives with the cathode material, utilizing a nanostructured cathode, or enhancing the cathode's flexibility. Here, an ion/electron dual-conductive three-dimensional (3D) network structure has been constructed using TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (OCNF) and modified carbon nanotubes. We improved the ionic/electronic conductivity of the cathode materials by adding NCNT or SCNT, and also boosted its electrochemical performance through effective inhibition of polysulfide shuttling by amino or sulfonic acid groups that adsorb the polysulfide. The results showed that the 40-CNFSC@S composite cathode with the introduction of sulfonated carbon nanotubes (SCNT) contained up to 73.9 wt% of sulfur and exhibited the best electrochemical performance, with an initial specific capacity of 1052 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C, and the specific capacity was still as high as 837 mAh g−1 after 120 cycles. Its great cycling stability allows for environmentally friendly and low-cost cellulose-based materials to be utilized in Li–S batteries.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the Hainan Provincial Joint Project of Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City (Grant No: 520LH017), State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials (KF2213), and Hainan Institute of Wuhan University of Technology (2021KF0015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Shuangquan Cao, Jisi Chen, Quanling Yang & Chuanxi Xiong

  2. Hainan Institute, Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya, 572024, China

    Quanling Yang

  3. School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhuqun Shi

  4. Longyan Zhuoyue New Energy Co. Ltd, Longyan, 364000, China

    Rong Fan

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  1. Shuangquan Cao
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SC contributed to conceptualization, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft; JC contributed to methodology, data curation; QY contributed to methodology, project administration, writing—review; CX contributed to funding acquisition, methodology, supervision, editing; RF contributed to methodology, writing—review; ZS contributed to funding acquisition, writing—review, editing.

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Correspondence to Quanling Yang or Zhuqun Shi.

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Cao, S., Chen, J., Yang, Q. et al. Highly sulfur-loaded dual-conductive cathodes based on nanocellulose for lithium-sulfur batteries. J Mater Sci 59, 563–576 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-09217-5

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