Electrochemical investigation of Li-ion diffusion and absorbing polysulfide of hierarchically structured carbon for the quasi-solid lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li–S) battery has a very remarkably specific capacity of 1675 mAh g −1 . To avoid the shuttle effect and build the safety and stability of the Li–S battery system, we demonstrated a new conductive carbon as the host material with 0.35-nm micropores and mesopores prepared by a one-step process for a quasi-solid electrolyte. PVDF acted as a precursor and PMMA acted as an additive in this one-step preparation process. In addition, the mesopores enhanced the contact area and the content of sulfur, while the 0.35-nm micropores provided a trap site for the polysulfide by an effective physical absorption when the sulfur embedded in the host material. Finally, the PVDF-based quasi-solid polymer electrolyte avoided the inflammable and explosive risk and achieved an initial specific capacity of 1038 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, and maintained at 441 mAh g −1 even after 500 cycles (a decay of 0.12% per cycle).