Energy storage is considered one of the main challenges for humanity in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. However, most energy sources are insufficient and cause a pronounced effect on the environment, with global warming projected to be responsible for the temperature increase of 4-5 °C by 2100. Lithium-Sulfur batteries (Li-S) show great promise for the use as an energy storage device due to their high theoretical capacity (1672 mAh/g), high energy density (2600 Wh/kg), and low cost of sulfur (~ 150$/ton). However, Li-S suffer from three problems that hindered its wide spread practicality. Nitrogen (N)-Doped carbon materials have been investigated due to their low cost, light weight, high electronic conductivity, and high thermal and chemical stability. A facile one step method was employed to synthesize N-doped micro/mesoporous carbon framework to host sulfur for lithium sulfur batteries. The N-doped carbon characterized by high surface area, good conductivity and easy to prepare. The nitrogen sorption (BET) of this N-doped C@S composite shows a remarkable surface area of 3031 cm<sup>3</sup>/g, large pore volume and micro/mesoporosity. The X-ray diffraction data indicated the successful fabrication of lithium-sulfur cell with sulfur composite. Thermogravimetric analysis showed a high sulfur content (69 mass %). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated the presence of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur functionalities in the electrode. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) also confirmed a homogeneous distribution of sulfur within the N-doped carbon matrix. The N-doped C@S composite delivers high initial discharge capacity of 1021 mAh/g at a current density of 84 mA/g (C/20), and high capacity retention. The nitrogen doping is believed to enhance the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries as a result of the high electronic conductivity of the matrix as well as its ability to confines polysulfides to the N-doped matrix from the shuttle mechanism phenomenon. This N-doped carbon is believed to be promising material for lithium-sulfur battery applications.

Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped micro/mesoporous carbons as sulfur host for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries

256th National Meeting (2018)

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