Sulfur-impregnated core-shell hierarchical porous carbon for lithium-sulfur batteries

Core-shell hierarchical porous carbon spheres (HPCs) were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and used as host to incorporate sulfur. The microstructure, morphology, and specific surface areas of the resultant samples have been systematically characterized. The results indicate that most of sulfur is well dispersed over the core area of HPCs after the impregnation of sulfur. Meanwhile, the shell of HPCs with void pores is serving as a retard against the dissolution of lithium polysulfides. This structure can enhance the transport of electron and lithium ions as well as alleviate the stress caused by volume change during the charge-discharge process. The as-prepared HPC-sulfur (HPC-S) composite with 65.3 wt % sulfur delivers a high specific capacity of 1397.9 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 335 mA g(-1) (0.2 C) as a cathode material for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, and the discharge capacity of the electrode could still reach 753.2 mA h g(-1) at 6700 mA g(-1) (4 C). Moreover, the composite electrode exhibited an excellent cycling capacity of 830.5 mA h g(-1) after 200 cycles.