A fumed alumina induced gel-like electrolyte for great performance improvement of lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

The practical application of high energy lithium–sulfur batteries is still limited by unstable lithium anodes and the shuttle effect of polysulfides. Herein, a gel-like electrolyte induced by fumed alumina is proposed for dendrite-free Li deposition, lower over-potential and better cycle stability. Li–S@pPAN cells with the proposed electrolyte exhibit outstanding cycle stability and rate performance with capacity retentions of 95.1% after 300 cycles and 76.5% at 10C against 1C, respectively.