Nickel-decorated TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotube arrays as a self-supporting cathode for lithium--sulfur batteries

doi:10.1007/s11706-020-0509-5

Front. Mater. Sci.

2020, Vol. 14

Issue (3) : 266-274 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-020-0509-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Nickel-decorated TiO₂ nanotube arrays as a self-supporting cathode for lithium--sulfur batteries

Yuming CHEN¹, Wenhao TANG¹, Jingru MA¹, Ben GE¹, Xiangliang WANG¹, Yufen WANG²(

), Pengfei REN¹, Ruiping LIU¹(

)

¹. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
². Energy & Materials Engineering Center, College of Physics and Materials Science, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China

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Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries are considered to be one of the strong competitors to replace lithium-ion batteries due to their large energy density. However, the dissolution of discharge intermediate products to the electrolyte, the volume change and poor electric conductivity of sulfur greatly limit their further commercialization. Herein, we proposed a self-supporting cathode of nickel-decorated TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TiO₂ NTs@Ni) prepared by an anodization and electrodeposition method. The TiO₂ NTs with large specific surface area provide abundant reaction space and fast transmission channels for ions and electrons. Moreover, the introduction of nickel can enhance the electric conductivity and the polysulfide adsorption ability of the cathode. As a result, the TiO₂ NTs@Ni–S electrode exhibits significant improvement in cycling and rate performance over TiO₂ NTs, and the discharge capacity of the cathode maintains 719 mA·h·g⁻¹ after 100 cycles at 0.1 C.

Keywords lithium--sulfur battery TiO₂ self-supporting polysulfide intermediate

Corresponding Author(s): Yufen WANG,Ruiping LIU

Online First Date: 19 June 2020 Issue Date: 10 September 2020

Cite this article:

Yuming CHEN,Wenhao TANG,Jingru MA, et al. Nickel-decorated TiO₂ nanotube arrays as a self-supporting cathode for lithium--sulfur batteries[J]. Front. Mater. Sci., 2020, 14(3): 266-274.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-020-0509-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/Y2020/V14/I3/266

Fig.1 Synthesis process of TiO₂ NTs@Ni–S composites.

Fig.2 SEM image of nanowires on the TiO₂ NTs surface.

Fig.3 (a)(b) SEM images of TiO₂ NTs. (c) SEM image of TiO₂ NTs@Ni. (d) SEM image of the cross-section of TiO₂ NTs.

Fig.4 (a) SEM image of S coating on TiO₂ NTs@Ni. (b)(c)(d)(e) Elemental mapping images of TiO₂ NTs@Ni–S.

Fig.5 (a) XRD patterns of TiO₂ NTs and TiO₂ NTs@Ni. (b)(c)(d) XPS spectra of the pristine TiO₂ NTs@Ni and TiO₂ NTs@Ni soaked in Li₂S₆ solution: Ti 2p spectra of TiO₂ NTs and TiO₂ NTs/Li₂S₆; Ni 2p_3/2 spectra of TiO₂ NTs@Ni and TiO₂ NTs@Ni/Li₂S₆; S 2p spectrum of TiO₂ NTs@Ni/Li₂S₆.

Fig.6 The electrochemical performance of Li–S batteries assembled with TiO₂ NTs–S or TiO₂ NTs@Ni–S as the cathode material: (a) CV curves; (b) discharge–charge profiles at 0.1 C for 100 cycles; (c)(d) rate performance; (e)(f) cyclic performance at 0.1 C for 100 cycles at the mass loadings of 1.6 and 2.4 mg·cm⁻².

Fig.7 Adsorption configurations of (a) Li₂S₄ on the anatase TiO₂ surface, (b) Li₂S₄ on the TiO₂@Ni surface, (c) Li₂S₆ on the anatase TiO₂ surface, and (d) Li₂S₆ on the TiO₂@Ni surface.

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