Mango stone-derived activated carbon with high sulfur loading as a cathode material for lithium–sulfur batteries. Issue 46 (21st April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Songtao; Zheng, Mingbo; Lin, Zixia; Zang, Rui; Huang, Qingli; Xue, Huaiguo; Cao, Jieming; Pang, Huan
• Is Part Of: RSC advances. Volume 6:Issue 46(2016)
• Page Start: 39918
• Page End: 39925
• Publication Date: 2016-04-21
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ra05560e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-2069

Abstract

Abstract : A mango stone-derived activated carbon/sulfur composite cathode with a high sulfur loading of 71 wt% for long cycle-life Li–S batteries. Abstract : A set of mango stone (MS)-derived activated carbons with tunable pore structure parameters have been synthesized via a KOH activation procedure. The maximum specific surface area of 3334 m 2 g −1 and pore volume of 2.17 cm 3 g −1 are obtained for the material which is pre-carbonized at 500 °C and treated with a KOH/char mass ratio of 4 (a-MSs-500-4). Given the large pore volume of the resultant a-MSs-500-4 activated carbon, a high sulfur loading of up to 71 wt% can be achieved (a-MSs-500-4/71). When applied in a lithium–sulfur battery, the a-MSs-500-4/71 composite cathode exhibits 64% capacity retention over 500 cycles at 800 mA g −1 and 45% capacity retention over 1000 cycles at 1600 mA g −1, indicating excellent long-term cycling performance. Moreover, after 1 wt% LiNO3 is introduced as the electrolyte additive, the average coulombic efficiency of the electrode is as high as approximately 99%.