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Electrochemical properties of modified acetylene black/sulfur composite cathode material for lithium/sulfur batteries

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Abstract

Lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries have a high theoretical specific capacity of 1672 mAh g−1. However, the insulation of the elemental sulfur and polysulfides dissolution could result in poor cycling performance of Li/S batteries, thus restricting the industrialization process. Here, we prepared sulfur-based composite by thermal treatment. The modified acetylene black (H-AB) was used as a carrier to fix sulfur. The H-AB could interact with polysulfides and reduce the dissolution of polysulfides in the electrolyte. Nonetheless, the conductivity of H-AB relatively reduced. So the conductivity of the sulfur electrode would be improved by the addition of the conductive agent (AB). In this paper, the different content of conductive agent (AB) in the sulfur electrode was studied. The electrochemical tests indicate that the discharge capacity of the sulfur electrode can be increased by increasing the conductive agent (AB) content. The H-AB@S composite electrode with 30 wt.% conductive agent has the best cycle property. The discharge capacity still remains at 563 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 C, which is 71% retention of the highest discharge capacity.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Shanxi Science and Technology Foundation Platform Construction Projects (2015091011) and Jincheng Science and Technology Planning Projects (201501004-21).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Guo Jin, Zhang Mingang, Yan Shijian, Yan Xiaoyan & Wei Shiwei

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  1. Guo Jin
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  2. Zhang Mingang
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  3. Yan Shijian
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Correspondence to Zhang Mingang.

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Jin, G., Mingang, Z., Shijian, Y. et al. Electrochemical properties of modified acetylene black/sulfur composite cathode material for lithium/sulfur batteries. Ionics 24, 2219–2225 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-017-2351-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-017-2351-z

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