a b s t r a c tPreparation of novel sulfur/polypyrrole (S/PPy) composite consisting well-dispersed sulfur particles anchored on interconnected PPy nanowire network was demonstrated. In such hybrid structure, the asprepared PPy clearly displays a three-dimensionally cross-linked and hierarchical porous structure, which was utilized in the composite cathode as a conductive network trapping soluble polysulfide intermediates and enhancing the overall electrochemical performance of the system. Benefiting from this unique structure, the S/PPy composite demonstrated excellent cycling stability, resulting in a discharge capacity of 931 mAh g À1 at the second cycle and retained about 54% of this value over 100 cycles at 0.1 C. Furthermore, the S/PPy composite cathode exhibits a good rate capability with a discharge capacity of 584 mAh g À1 at 1 C.
Due to the hydrophobic nature of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT), sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) was adopted as a surfactant to synthesize a well-dispersed, homogeneous MWNT aqueous suspension. By simple stirring mixing of the resultant MWNT suspension with nano-sulfur aqueous suspension, a novel porous sulfur/ multiwalled carbon nanotube composite (S/MWNT) was synthesized. This preparation method based on the suspension mixing possesses the advantages of simplicity and low cost. Homogeneous dispersion and integration of MWNT in the composite results in a porous, highly conductive and mechanically flexible framework with enhanced electronic conductivity and ability to absorb the polysulfides into its porous structure. The cell with this S/MWNT composite cathode demonstrates a high reversibility, resulting in a stable reversible specific discharge capacity of 708 mAh g −1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 C. Furthermore, the S/MWNT composite cathode with sulfur content of 62.5 wt% exhibits a good rate capability with discharge capacities of 946, 780 and 516 mAh g −1 at 0.5, 1 and 1.5 C, respectively.
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