Crumpled graphene-encapsulated sulfur for lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries are promising technology in electrical vehicles and large-scale energy storage systems. However, their market penetration is seriously impeded by great challenges such as the low electrical conduction of sulfur and lithium sulfides, and lithium polysulfides' shuttling effect. This work shows that such challenges can be partly resolved by encapsulating sulfur in crumpled reduced graphene oxide (S@crGO), which was synthesized by a facile and scalable one-step in situ method. The strong interaction between sulfur and the graphene host, micro- and meso-pore structures, and rich surface functional groups contribute to the high performance of the S@crGO cathode for lithium–sulfur batteries.