title: Ultrafine TiO2 Decorated Carbon Nanofibers as Multifunctional Interlayer for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Battery.
abstract: Although lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries deliver high specific energy densities, lots of intrinsic and fatal obstacles still restrict their practical application. Electrospun carbon nanofibers (CNFs) decorated with ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticles (CNF-T) were prepared and used as a multifunctional interlayer to suppress the volume expansion and shuttle effect of Li-S battery. With this strategy, the CNF network with abundant space and superior conductivity can accommodate and recycle the dissolved polysulfides for the bare sulfur cathode. Meanwhile, the ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticles on CNFs work as anchoring points to capture the polysulfides with the strong interaction, making the battery perform with remarkable and stable electrochemical properties. As a result, the Li-S battery with the CNF-T interlayer delivers an initial reversible capacity of 935 mA h g(-1) at 1 C with a capacity retention of 74.2% after 500 cycles. It is believed that this simple, low-cost and scalable method will definitely bring a novel perspective on the practical utilization of Li-S batteries.
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Gemeng
authors: G
authors: Liang
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Junxiong
authors: J
authors: Wu
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.|Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors: Xianying
authors: X
authors: Qin
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Liu
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Qing
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors: Yan-Bing
authors: YB
authors: He
authors: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors: Jang-Kyo
authors: JK
authors: Kim
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors: Baohua
authors: B
authors: Li
authors: Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Power and Energy Storage Batteries, and Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen 518055, China.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Feiyu
authors: F
authors: Kang
keywords: TiO2; carbon nanofibers; electrochemical properties; interlayer; lithium−sulfur batteries