Porous carbon framework nested nickel foam as freestanding host for high energy lithium sulfur batteries

Constructing 3 D multifunctional conductive framework as stable sulfur cathode contributes to develop advanced lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries.Herein,a freestanding electrode with nickel foam framework and nitrogen doped porous carbon(PC)network is presented to encapsulate active sulfur for Li-S batteries.In such a mutually embedded architecture with high stability,the interconnected carbon network and nickel foam matrix can expedite ionic/electro nic tra nsport and sustain volume variations of sulfur.Furthermore,rationally designed porous structures provide sufficient internal space and large surface area for high active sulfur loading and polar polysulfides anchoring.Benefiting from the synergistic superiority,the Ni/PC-S cathode exhibits a high initial capacity of around 1200 mAh/g at 0.2 C,excelle nt rate perfo rmance,and high cycling stability with a low decay rate of 0.059%per cycle after 500 cycles.This work provides a useful strategy to exploit freestanding porous framework for diverse applications.