Abstract
In situ polymerization of acrylonitrile with nano-sulfur particles has been developed as a synthetic route to prepare sulfur/polyacrylonitrile (S/ pPAN) composite as a cathode material for lithium/sulfur battery. Transmission electronic microscopy revealed the formation of a highly developed network structure consisting of PAN and sulfur homogeneous mixing at nanosized level, providing the "buffering" space to accommodate the volume change of sulfur upon cycling and retaining the structural integrity preventing the material agglomeration and degradation. Benefiting from this unique structure, the S/pPAN composite cathode demonstrated enhanced reversibility, resulting in a discharge capacity of 1177 mAh g-1 at the second cycle and retained about 100% of this value over 100 cycles at 0.5C. Furthermore, the S/pPAN composite cathode delivered a discharge capacity of 981 mAh g-1 at the 100th cycle at 1C.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 326-331 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Power Sources |
| Volume | 270 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 15 2014 |
Funding
This research was financially supported by Positec , Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) , Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) . YZ thanks the China Scholarship Council for Study Abroad Scholarship. ZB acknowledges a research grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan #1889 and a Subproject supported by the Technology Commercialization Project by the World Bank and the Government of Kazakhstan.
Keywords
- Cathode
- Lithium/sulfur battery
- Network structure
- Sulfur/polyacrylonitrile composite
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
