Highly dispersed Mn metallic nanoparticles (15.87 nm on average) on a nitrogen-doped porous carbon matrix were prepared by thermal treatment of MnO2-x/polyaniline (PANI), which was derived from the in situ polymerization of aniline monomers initiated by γ-MnO2 nanosheets. Owing to the large surface area (1287 m2/g), abundant active sites, nitrogen dopants and highly dispersed Mn sites on graphitic carbon, an impressive specific capacity of 1319.4 mAh g−1 with an admirable rate performance was delivered in a Li-S battery. After 220 cycles at 1 C, 80.6% of the original capacity was retained, exhibiting a good cycling stability.
