title: Dual Functionalities of Carbon Nanotube Films for Dendrite-Free and High Energy-High Power Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.
abstract: As a promising Li-metal battery, Li-S battery has an ultrahigh theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg-1. However, most of the previous work has mainly focused on tackling the "polysulfide shuttle" originating from the S cathode, while the dendrite problem coming from the Li-metal anode has often been overlooked. Herein, to solve the issues arising from both the cathode and anode simultaneously, we propose a novel cell configuration for the first time by inserting CNT films on both sides of the separator in Li-S batteries, in which the cathode-side CNT film works as a shield to suppress the "polysulfide shuttle" and the anode-side CNT film acts as a powerful shield to prevent the Li dendrite growth. In the new cell configuration, the S/rGO cathode with a high S loading of about 4.0 mg cm-2displays a high specific capacity (1336 mAh g-1at 0.2 C), excellent rate ability (1070, 833, 656, and 444 mAh g-1at 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 C, respectively), and sustainable cycling stability for 150 cycles with high Coulombic efficiency (>99%) at 1 C, while the Li metal anode displays an ultrasmooth surface. We believe this work will aid in developing other metal-based (e.g., Na, K, Zn, and Al) batteries.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Keyu
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7719-9095
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Weibang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Xingrui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Gan
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware , Newark, Delaware 19716, United States.
authors.forename: Bingqing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
keywords: CNT film; lithium dendrite; lithium−sulfur battery; new cell configuration; polysulfide