title: A sulfur host based on titanium monoxide@carbon hollow spheres for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries.
abstract: Lithium-sulfur batteries show advantages for next-generation electrical energy storage due to their high energy density and cost effectiveness. Enhancing the conductivity of the sulfur cathode and moderating the dissolution of lithium polysulfides are two key factors for the success of lithium-sulfur batteries. Here we report a sulfur host that overcomes both obstacles at once. With inherent metallic conductivity and strong adsorption capability for lithium-polysulfides, titanium monoxide@carbon hollow nanospheres can not only generate sufficient electrical contact to the insulating sulfur for high capacity, but also effectively confine lithium-polysulfides for prolonged cycle life. Additionally, the designed composite cathode further maximizes the lithium-polysulfide restriction capability by using the polar shells to prevent their outward diffusion, which avoids the need for chemically bonding all lithium-polysulfides on the surfaces of polar particles.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jintao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
authors.forename: Buyuan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Da
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Li-Min
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore.|State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 320027, China.
authors.forename: Xiong Wen David
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Lou