“Ship-In-a-Bottle”\nStrategy to Construct\nPolymeric Sulfur Inside Mesoporous Carbon for High-Performance Lithium–Sulfur\nBatteries

Abstract

Polymeric sulfur was synthesized via an interfacial polycondensation\nreaction and incorporated inside the mesopores of the mesoporous carbons\nthrough the “ship-in-a-bottle” strategy for lithium–sulfur\nbatteries. Based on the excellent physical properties of the carbon\nhost and the C–S bonds in the polymer, the polymeric sulfur\ncomposite cathode exhibited a strong confined effect on polysulfides,\nthus inhibiting the shuttle effect and delivering a reversible discharge\ncapacity of 846 mA h g^–1 at 0.5 C over 200 cycles\nand of 813 mA h g^–1 at 1 C for 200 cycles with a\ncapacity decay rate of 0.04% per cycle. Even at a rate of 2 C, the\nobtained polymeric sulfur-based cathode also maintained a capacity\nof 535 mA h g^–1 after 600 cycles with a decay rate\nof only 0.04% per cycle.