Flexible Composite of S/PAN/C Nanofibers by Electrospinning as Binder–Free Cathodes for Li-S Batteries

Abstract

As one of the most promising energy storage devices, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted tremendous attention for its high volumetric and gravimetric energy density, no memory effects, good shape versatility, and relatively slow self-discharge rates. Conventional LIBs based on intercalation cathodes, have limited energy densities. Therefore, lithium/sulfur (Li/S) battery is considered as an attractive and promising candidate to be utilized for the mentioned purposes, which is due to its high theoretical specific capacity of 1672 mAh g− 1 and theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg-1 [1,2]. However, practical application of Li/S batteries is hindered by several drawbacks as: the electrical-insulating nature of sulfur results in its low utilization; lithium polysulfides intermediate products of electrochemical process are easily soluble into the organic electrolytes, which leads to severe capacity fading and low coulombic efficiency.