title: Synthesis of TiC Nanoparticles Anchored on Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for Enhanced Polysulfide Adsorption in Li-S Batteries.
abstract: A novel spatial confinement strategy based on a carbon/TiO2/carbon sandwich structure is proposed to synthesize TiC nanoparticles anchored on hollow carbon nanospheres (TiC@C) through a carbothermal reduction reaction. During the synthesis process, two carbon layers not only serve as reductant to convert TiO2into TiC nanoparticles, but also create a spatial confinement to suppress the aggregation of TiO2, resulting in the formation of well-dispersed TiC nanoparticles. This unique TiC@C structure shows an outstanding long-term cycling stability at high rates owing to the strong physical and chemical adsorption of lithium polysulfides (i.e., a high capacity of 732.6 mA h g-1at 1600 mA g-1) and it retains a capacity of 443.2 mA h g-1after 1000 cycles, corresponding to a decay rate of only 0.0395 % per cycle. Therefore, this unique TiC@C composite could be considered as an important candidate for the cathode material in Li-S batteries.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research on Utilization of Si-Zr-Ti Resources, Hainan University, 58 Renmin Road, Haikou, 570228, China.
authors.forename: Bokai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research on Utilization of Si-Zr-Ti Resources, Hainan University, 58 Renmin Road, Haikou, 570228, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research on Utilization of Si-Zr-Ti Resources, Hainan University, 58 Renmin Road, Haikou, 570228, China.
authors.forename: De
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research on Utilization of Si-Zr-Ti Resources, Hainan University, 58 Renmin Road, Haikou, 570228, China.
authors.forename: Lihong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research on Utilization of Si-Zr-Ti Resources, Hainan University, 58 Renmin Road, Haikou, 570228, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mo
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002244:Carbon; D011211:Electric Power Supplies / Q000639:trends*; D004566:Electrodes; D018020:Lithium Compounds; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000737:chemistry; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D018020:Lithium Compounds; D013440:Sulfides; C096521:titanium carbide; D002244:Carbon; C032915:polysulfide; D014025:Titanium; C550775:lithium sulfide
keywords: batteries; carbon nanospheres; lithium-sulfur; polysulfide adsorption; titanium carbide