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Separator modified with Ketjenblack-In2O3 nanoparticles for long cycle-life lithium-sulfur batteries

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Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted wide attention because of their high theoretical energy density and specific capacity and because they are environmentally friendly. However, its applications are still greatly hindered by some inherent problems such as uncontrollable deposition of lithium sulfide and the shuttle effect induced by lithium polysulfides. Herein, separators modified with Ketjenblack-In2O3 (KB-IO) nanoparticles were used to ease these problems and to improve the cycling stability and rate performance of the Li-S battery. Experimental results suggest that the KB-IO-modified separator has a considerable absorption capability on lithium polysulfides as well as a good catalytic effect on electrochemical reaction kinetics. At 1 C, the initial specific discharge capacities of the Li-S cells with the KB-IO-modified separator is as high as 1050 mAh g−1 and maintains 631 mAh g−1 after 700 cycles. Moreover, the cells also show an appreciable rate performance of 832 mAh g−1 even at a rate of 2 C, and this rate performance is much higher than that of the sample with the unmodified separator and that of the sample with the pure KB-modified separator.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Provincial Higher Education of China (Grant No. 16KJB430007) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51274106, 51474113).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Advanced Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaofen Yang, Xinye Qian, Lina Jin, Shanshan Yao, Dewei Rao & Xiangqian Shen

  2. Institute of Advanced Materials, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Xinye Qian & Xiangqian Shen

  3. Hunan Engineering Laboratory of Power Battery Cathode Materials, Changsha Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Changsha, 410012, People’s Republic of China

    Li Wang & Jinli Tan

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  1. Xiaofen Yang
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Correspondence to Xinye Qian or Xiangqian Shen.

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Yang, X., Qian, X., Jin, L. et al. Separator modified with Ketjenblack-In2O3 nanoparticles for long cycle-life lithium-sulfur batteries. J Solid State Electrochem 23, 645–656 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-4141-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-4141-6

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