Natural Integrated Carbon Architecture for Rechargeable\nLithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Natural integrated carbon architecture\ncathodes without any additives,\nwhich were derived from the bark of plane trees, have highly loaded\nsulfur of 3.2–4.2 mg cm^–2. The as-obtained\ncarbon slice has an integrated architecture with micropore-to-macrospore\ndistribution and a large surface area of 528 m² g^–1. As a result, the integrated carbon–sulfur cathode exhibited\nan initial discharge capacity of 1159 mA h g^–1 at\n0.2 A g^–1 for a lithium–sulfur battery. Even\nafter 60 cycles, a high specific capacity of 608 mA h g^–1 with a high Coulombic efficiency (>98%) was retained, much better\nthan MWCNTs-based electrodes and macropore-destroyed carbon slices.