Novel ceric dioxide nanospheres as sulfur hosts for advanced electrochemical performance of lithium‐sulfur batteries

Abstract

BACKGROUND Metal oxides are promising sulfur host materials because of their superior adsorption ability. Based on this theme, ceric dioxide (CeO2) nanospheres with mesoporous structure were synthesized and designed as host materials to form CeO2 nanospheres/sulfur (CO‐NSs/S) composites. RESULTS The as‐prepared CO‐NSs/S composites with sulfur content of 71% exhibited an initial high discharge capacity of 1396 mAh g−1 at the current density of 0.1 C. In addition, an excellent cycling stability with a reversible capacity of 678 mAh g−1 was obtained at 2 C after 500 discharge/charge cycles. CONCLUSION The advanced improvements of electrochemical performance are ascribed to the presence of metal oxide ceric dioxide nanospheres with mesoporous structure, which could not only inhibit the dissolution and migration of soluble polysulfide during the electrochemical cycles, but also improve the electronic conductivity of the element sulfur. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry