Graphene-based Activated Carbon Composites for High Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

The increasing demand for electrical energy storage requires the exploration of alternative battery chemistries that overcome the limitations of the current state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries. In this scenario, lithium-sulfur batteries stand out for their high theoretical energy density. However, several inherent limitations still hinder their commercialization. In this work, we report the synthesis and study of two high-performance activated carbon-based materials that allow to overcome the most challenging limitations of sulfur electrodes, i.e., low electronic conductivity and the polysulfide shuttle effect. The two tailored nanomaterials are based on porous carbon structures mixed with conductive reduced graphene oxide, one derived from an organic waste and the other from an organic synthetic route. These structures not only feature excellent individual properties, but also present excellent performance when implemented in batteries, related to their superior conductivity and polysulfide trapping ability, allowing to obtain improved rate capacity and high sulfur loading cycling. Additionally, we demonstrate the scalability of the best performing material by the assembly of high-performance pouch cells.