Monodisperse polar NiCo_(2)O_(4)nanoparticles decorated porous graphene aerogel for high-performance lithium sulfur battery

摘要

Lithium sulfur battery(LSB)is a promising energy storage system to meet the increasing energy demands for electric vehicles and smart grid,while its wide commercialization is severely inhibited by the"shuttle effect"of polysulfides,low utilization of sulfur cathode,and safety of lithium anode.To overcome these issues,herein,monodisperse polar NiCo_(2)O_(4)nanoparticles decorated porous graphene aerogel composite(NCO-GA)is proposed.The aerogel composite demonstrates high conductivity,hierarchical porous structure,high chemisorption capacity and excellent electrocatalytic ability,which effectively inhibits the"shuttle effect",promotes the ion/electron transport and increases the reaction kinetics.The NCO-GA/S cathode exhibits high discharge specific capacity(1214.1 mAh g^(-1)at 0.1 C),outstanding rate capability(435.7 mAh g^(-1)at 5 C)and remarkable cycle stability(decay of 0.031%/cycle over 1000 cycles).Quantitative analyses show that the physical adsorption provided by GA mainly contributes to the capacity of NCO-GA/S at low rate,while the chemical adsorption provided by polar NiCo_(2)O_(4)contributes mainly to the capacity of NCO-GA/S with the increase of current density and cycling.This work provides a new strategy for the design of GA-based composite with synergistic adsorption and electrocatalytic activity for the potential applications in LSB and related energy fields.