Ordered Mesoporous Graphitic Carbon/Iron Carbide Composites with High Porosity as a Sulfur Host for Li-S Batteries.

The lithium-sulfur battery (LSB) is a promising candidate for future energy storage but faces technological challenges including the low electronic conductivity of sulfur and the solubility of intermediates during cycling. Additionally, current host materials often lack sufficient conductivity and porosity to raise the sulfur loading to over 80 wt %. Here, ordered mesoporous graphitic carbon/iron carbide nanocomposites were prepared via an evaporation-induced self-assembly process using soluble resol, prehydrolyzed tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), and iron(III) chloride as the carbon, silica (SiO2), and iron precursors, respectively. Graphitization and SiO2 etching were conducted simultaneously via Teflon-assisted, solid-state decomposition at high temperature. A high surface area (∼3100 m2 g-1), large pore volume (∼3.3 cm3 g-1), and graphitized carbon frame were achieved, giving a high sulfur loading (85 wt %) while tolerating volumetric expansion during discharge. Electrochemical testing of a LSB containing the composite/sulfur cathode exhibited a superior reversible capacity exceeding 1300 mAh g-1 at a moderate current (C/10) and a low decay in capacity of 9% after 500 cycles at C/5. The interaction between mesoporous graphitic carbon and sulfur is proposed.

Monodisperse mesoporous anatase beads as high performance and safer anodes for lithium ion batteries.

To achieve high efficiency lithium ion batteries (LIBs), an effective active material is important. In this regard, monodisperse mesoporous titania beads (MMTBs) featuring well interconnected nanoparticles were synthesised, and their mesoporous properties were tuned to study how these affect the electrochemical performance in LIBs. Two pore diameters of 15 and 25 nm, three bead diameters of 360, 800 and 2100 nm, and various annealing temperatures (from 300 to 650 °C) were investigated. The electrochemical results showed that while the pore size does not significantly influence the electrochemical behaviour, the specific surface area and the nanocrystal size affect the performance. Also, there is an optimum annealing temperature that enhances electron transfer across the titania bead structure. The carbon content employed in the electrode was varied, showing that the bead diameter strongly influences the minimal content of the conductive carbon required to fabricate the electrode. As a general rule, the smaller the bead diameter, the more carbon was required in the electrode. A large energy capacity and high current rate performance were achieved on the MMTBs featuring high surface area, nano-sized anatase crystals and well-sintered connections between the nanocrystals. The high stability of these mesoporous structures was demonstrated by charge/discharge cycling up to 500 cycles. Devices constructed with the MMTBs retained more than 80% of the initial capacity, indicating an excellent performance.