MnS nanoparticles embedded uniformly in sulfur/nitrogen-doped porous carbon spheres enhancing lithium-storage performance

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 614; p. 156080
• Main Authors: Li, Mingjiang, Peng, Xin, Li, Zhaohui, Lei, Gangtie, Xie, Shuhong, Ouyang, Xiaoping, Ding, Yanhuai, Sun, Kailing, Wei, Tongye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 30.03.2023
• Subjects: Carbon encapsulation; In-situ generating; Lithium-ion batteries; MnS; Polymer microgel template; Lithium-ion batteries; In-situ generating; MnS; Polymer microgel template; Carbon encapsulation
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.156080

[Display omitted] •Polymer microgel spheres are used as templates.•3D Li+/e− conductive networks are formed in the MnS@S,N-PC composite.•Mesoporous carbon matrix alleviates the volume change of MnS nanoparticles.•Rich interfaces enable pseudocapacitance to contribute major to the total capacity. Rocksalt-type manganese sulfide (α-MnS) is a promising next generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries, but its practice application is severely impeded by slow conversion kinetics and large volume change. To overcome these drawbacks, α-MnS nanoparticles are uniformly embedded in sulfur/nitrogen-doped porous carbon (S,N-PC) spheres, which are fabricated by absorbing Mn2+ in poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (P(AM-co-AA)) microgel spheres, in-situ generating MnS@P(AM-co-AA) hybrid spheres, and carbonized at a high temperature. Synergetic effect of nanocrystallization, carbon encapsulation and porous structure endows the MnS@S,N-PC electrode with outstanding electrochemical properties. It can deliver an initial discharge capacity of 822 mAh/g at 0.1C rate in the voltage range of 0.01–3.0 V, accompanying with an initial coulombic efficiency of 82.5 %, and remains 420 mAh/g at 2C rate after 600 cycles. Owing to a large interfacial area between MnS nanoparticles and S,N-PC, pseudocapacitance contributes much more to total capacity during charging/discharging processes. The results suggest that the MnS@S,N-PC spheres can be promisingly developed into high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.