Crosslinked polyacrylonitrile precursor for S@pPAN composite cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries

S@pPAN has become promising cathode materials in rechargeable batteries due to its high compressed density, low E/S ratio, no polysulfide dissolution, no self-discharge, and stable cycling. However, it is a big challenge to enhance its sulfur content which determines its practical specific capacity. Herein, we prepare crosslinked PAN as precursor, leading to effective enhancement of sulfur content up to 55 wt% and a reversible specific capacity of 838 mAh g -1 composites at 0.2C. Because of the microporous structure and high specific area, crosslinked PAN provides more space to accommodate sulfur molecule and improve the interfacial reaction of S@pPAN as well. This work provides a promising direction to design S@pPAN for lithium sulfur batteries with high energy density.