Novel Polyaniline-Silver-Sulfur Nanotube Composite as Cathode Material for Lithium-Sulfur Battery

The preparation and characterization of a polyaniline-silver-sulfur nanotube composite were reported in this paper. The polyaniline-silver nanotube composite was synthesized via an oxidation-reduction method in the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution. After being vulcanized, the polyaniline-silver-sulfur (Poly (AN-Ag-S)) nanotube composite was prepared as active cathode material and assembled into lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries with electrolyte and negative electrode materials. When the feed ratio of raw materials (aniline and AgNO3) was 2:1, the initial specific capacity of poly (AN-Ag-S) composite cells reached 1114 mAh/g. The specific capacity was kept at 573 mAh/g, and the capacity retention rate stayed above 51% after 100 cycles. The introduction of Ag into the composite cathode material can effectively solve the poor conductivity of sulfur and improve the Li-S battery performance.