Reinforced Conductive Confinement of Sulfur for Robust and High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Sulfur is an attractive cathode material in energy storage devices due to its high theoretical capacity of 1672 mAh g(-1). However, practical application of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries can be achieved only when the major barriers, including the shuttling effect of polysulfides (Li2Sx, x = 3-8), significant volume change (∼80%), and the resultant rapid deterioration of electrodes, are tackled. Here, we propose an "inside-out" synthesis strategy by mimicking the structure of the pomegranate fruit to achieve conductive confinement of sulfur to address these issues. In the proposed pomegranate-like structure, sulfur and carbon nanotubes composite is encapsulated by the in situ formed amorphous carbon network, which allows the regeneration of electroactive material sulfur and the confinement of the sulfur as well as the lithium polysulfide within the electrical conductive carbon network. Consequently, a highly robust sulfur cathode is obtained, delivering remarkable performance in a Li-S battery. The obtained composite cathode shows a reversible capacity of 691 mAh g(-1) after 200 cycles with impressive cycle stability at the current density of 1600 mA g(-1).