Highly dispersed sulfur in a porous aromatic framework as a cathode for lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are attractive candidates for transportation applications because of their high energy density (2600 W h kg⁻¹). However, Li–S batteries have failed to achieve commercial success, due to the rapid capacity fading with cycling caused mainly by the “shuttle” phenomenon. Here, we report a feasible approach to mitigate this issue using a porous aromatic framework (PAF) as a hosting substrate in Li–S batteries. As a cathode material, the composite of PAF with sulfur exhibits high capacity and excellent cycling stability in both a sulfone electrolyte, 1.0 M LiPF₆–MiPS, and an ionic liquid electrolyte, 0.5 M LiTFSI–MPPY·TFSI.