Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-Doped Porous Carbon Derived from Thiourea and Calcium Citrate for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have shown a high theoretical specific capacity of 1675 mAh g−1. However, amongst the issues they have, the low electron conductivity of sulfur and its dissolution represent the biggest challenge limiting its practical applications. This contributes to the low utilization of the active sulfur at the cathode—a phenomenon known as the “shuttling effect.” To overcome these limitations, some strategies such as physical confinement (sulfur−carbon composite), chemical adsorption (N and/or S doping) electrolyte design, and separator design have already been proposed. Calcium citrate is the most attractive carbon source because no activation process is necessary and the fabrication process is very simple. In this experiment, we synthesized calcium citrate and sulfur (S) to conduct a charging−discharging test and compared them by adding thiourea (TU) as well as S in the carbonized calcium citrate (CaC). This effective and simple technique for material production can accommodate the charge/discharge reactions and preserve the structure over long cycles. A CaC/TU-S composite is acceptable for an initial discharge capacity of 1051.6 mAh g−1 over 100 cycles at 1 C. The results show that the CaC-S and CaC/TU-S composites have a good, stable specific capacity.

Keywords

• li-s batteries
• calcium citrate
• thiourea
• mesoporous carbon