Issue 17, 2019

2D MXene nanosheets enable small-sulfur electrodes to be flexible for lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries are one of the most promising energy storage devices with high energy density, but their practical application is hindered by the serious capacity fading due to the shuttle effect resulting from the migration of polysulifdes during charge–discharge. Using small sulfur molecules (S2–4), in place of conventional cyclo-S8, as cathode materials is an efficient method to fundamentally eradicate the shuttle effect. To satisfy the demands of flexible electronic devices, in this paper, two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets were used as a conductive binder and flexible backbone to combine with the S2–4/carbon composite, fabricating a flexible small-sulfur electrode for lithium–sulfur batteries. The 2D MXene nanosheets with excellent conductivity can not only provide flexibility for the electrode, but also construct a conductive network for fast charge transfer. As a result, the flexible S2–4 electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performance, which has a capacity of 1029.7 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C and maintains 946.7 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles with 91.9% retention. Besides, a capacity of 502.3 mA h g−1 is obtained at 2 C current density. This electrode is promising for flexible lithium–sulfur batteries, and the application of MXene as a conductive binder and flexible backbone in lithium–sulfur batteries offers an effective method to achieve both flexibility and high performance.

Graphical abstract: 2D MXene nanosheets enable small-sulfur electrodes to be flexible for lithium–sulfur batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 11月 2018
Accepted
29 3月 2019
First published
01 4月 2019

Nanoscale, 2019,11, 8442-8448

2D MXene nanosheets enable small-sulfur electrodes to be flexible for lithium–sulfur batteries

Q. Zhao, Q. Zhu, J. Miao, P. Zhang and B. Xu, Nanoscale, 2019, 11, 8442 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR09653H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements