Natural Integrated Carbon Architecture for Rechargeable Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Natural integrated carbon architecture cathodes without any additives, which were derived from the bark of plane trees, have highly loaded sulfur of 3.2–4.2 mg cm–2. The as-obtained carbon slice has an integrated architecture with micropore-to-macrospore distribution and a large surface area of 528 m2 g–1. As a result, the integrated carbon–sulfur cathode exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 1159 mA h g–1 at 0.2 A g–1 for a lithium–sulfur battery. Even after 60 cycles, a high specific capacity of 608 mA h g–1 with a high Coulombic efficiency (>98%) was retained, much better than MWCNTs-based electrodes and macropore-destroyed carbon slices.