Aligned sulfur-coated carbon nanotubes with a polyethylene glycol barrier at one end for use as a high efficiency sulfur cathode

High efficient sulfur cathode materials were constructed by the incorporation of aligned sulfur-coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and a polyethylene glycol (PEG) barrier at one end. During the charge and discharge of lithium sulfur batteries, high Li ion storage performance can be achieved on the composite electrode, which was benefited from both the aligned CNT structure and the polymer barrier. Aligned CNT framework afforded high conductivity for electron transportation and ordered pores for lithium ion transportation. Meanwhile, the PEG barrier layer greatly suppressed the shuttle of polysulfides. Therefore, this aligned sulfur-coated CNTs with a PEG barrier showed a high initial discharge capacity of 920 and 1128 mAh g(-1) in lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide/1,3-dioxolane/1,2-dimethoxyethane and electrolyte with LiNO3 additives, respectively. The PEG coated cathode showed high cycle stability that a low degradation with 0.38% per cycle during the 100 cycles at 0.1 C was achieved in LiNO3-free electrolytes. These Li storage performance was superior to the aligned sulfur-coated CNT electrode without PEG barrier. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.