Co3O4-NP embedded mesoporous carbon rod with enhanced electrocatalytic conversion in lithium-sulfur battery

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur battery has been considered to be one of the promising alternatives to the traditional lithium-ion battery due to its high theoretical energy density and saving-cost. However, the sluggish reaction during the decomposition of lithium sulfide results in a low specific capacity and poor cycling stability. Herein Co3O4 nano-particle embedded mesoporous carbon rod (Co3O4@MCR) was prepared through a template method to accommodate sulfur as cathode of lithium-sulfur battery. The resultant composite was characterized by Raman spectra, XRD, TEM, SEM, etc. The electrochemical investigation demonstrated that Co3O4@MCR composite exhibits enhanced electrocatalytic performance in lithium-sulfur battery, which was confirmed by cyclic voltammograms, galvanostatic charge-discharge testing, and study of sulfide oxidation using linear sweep voltammetry. With the current density of 0.2 A/g, the specific discharge capacity can be achieved up to more than 1000 mAh/g after 100 cycles. The enhanced electrocatalytic conversion from Co3O4@MCR leads to a low over-potential, fast lithium-ion kinetics and sulfide oxidation reaction.

Recent advance on Co‐based materials for polysulfide catalysis toward promoted lithium‐sulfur batteries

“…The shuttle behavior and slow redox kinetics of sulfur species are the prominent factors that prevent Li‐S batteries from going from the laboratory to the market. [ 105 ] Therefore, it is urgent to develop multifunctional catalytic materials which can limit the separation of LiPSs from the cathode and accelerate their electrochemical reaction kinetics. [ 141 ] Current studies have shown that many Co‐based materials not only effectively anchored LiPSs, but also effectively catalyzed them in both oxidation and reduction processes, including accelerating mutual conversion, controlling controlled deposition of solid sulfur and reducing its dissolution barrier, showing great potential as the advanced multifunctional catalytic materials for the state‐of‐the‐art Li‐S batteries.…”

“…Moreover, the porous HCN can not only effectively preserve sulfur species, but also provide more paths for electron/ion transport, reducing the volume expansion of sulfur cathodes. [ 105 ] Dai et al. designed a N‐doped Co 3 O 4 coated with reduced graphene oxide (N‐Co 3 O 4 @N‐C).…”

“…Wang and co‐workers conducted sulfides oxidation study by three electrodes electrochemical measurement for Co 3 O 4 nanoparticle embedded mesoporous carbon rod (Co 3 O 4 @MCR), MCR and bare glass carbon electrodes (Figure 6E). [ 105 ] Co 3 O 4 @MCR exhibited considerably lower voltage than the bare glass carbon electrode and the Li 2 S 4 signals at ∼400 nm wavelength was detected in the UV‐Vis absorption spectrum above ‐0.4 V demonstrating that over the onset potential Li 2 S in the electrolyte was transferred into Li 2 S 4 (Figure 6F).…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [ 105 ] Copyright 2017, Royal Society of Chemistry. B, UV‐vis absorption spectra of N‐Co 3 O 4 @N‐C/rGO‐S cathodes.…”

Encapsulating Metal-Organic-Framework Derived Nanocages into a Microcapsule for Shuttle Effect-Suppressive Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

“…In addition, several reports indicated that typical semiconductor Co 3 O 4 is a promising sulfur host because of its strong interaction with sulfur and polysulfides [17][18][19][20]. With this in mind, developing creative Co 3 O 4 -based composite for Li-S batteries is attractive and would be of great significance [21][22][23].…”