Lithium-sulfur battery cathodes made of porous biochar support CoFe@NC metal nanoparticles derived from Prussian blue analogues

• Published in: Ionics Vol. 25; no. 11; pp. 5297 - 5304
• Main Authors: Jing, Shengyu, Ding, Ping, Zhang, Yongliang, Liang, Huagen, Yin, Shibin, Tsiakaras, Panagiotis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Cathodes; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Energy Storage; Flux density; Gold; Lithium sulfur batteries; Nanoparticles; Optical and Electronic Materials; Original Paper; Pigments; Porosity; Renewable and Green Energy; Storage batteries; Sulfur; Prussian blue analogues; Li–S battery; Sulfur cathode; Biomass-derived carbon; CoFe alloy
• ISSN: 0947-7047; 1862-0760
• DOI: 10.1007/s11581-019-03065-7

Li–S batteries are considered as candidates for the next-generation secondary batteries due to their high energy density (~ 1672 mAh g −1 ). However, poor conductivity and shuttle effect have become the major obstacles for their development. In the present investigation, we prepared porous biochar-coated metal nanoparticles CoFe@NC/PPC by loading the Prussian blue analogues onto the biomass pomelo peel (PP), followed by calcination. Both rich nitrogen-doped pore structure and CoFe nanoparticles can reduce the shuttle effect in the cycle, and biochar can enhance the conductivity of the sulfur cathode, promoting the complete reaction of sulfur. It is found that after being sulfur-injected and made into a button cell, it exhibits good electrochemical performance. The initial specific capacity was found to be close to 915.6 mAh g −1 at 1 C and it remained at 447.4 mAh g −1 after 500 cycles with a coulombic efficiency of 97.3%. Graphical abstract 1. A CoFe metal particles coated nitrogen-doped porous carbon (CoFe@NC/PPC) derived from Prussian blue analogue/biomass. 2. Li–S batteries with S/CoFe@NC/PPC cathodes deliver good electrochemical performance. 3. The synergism between NC/PPC and CoFe reduces the shuttle effect and improves the performance of sulfur cathode.