Flake-like molybdenum trioxide/carbon nanotube composite as an effective sulfur host for high-performance lithium–sulfur battery cathode

The practical applications of high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries are seriously hindered by the shuttle effect of polysulfide intermediates Therefore, molybdenum trioxide/carbon nanotubes/sulfur (MoO3/CNTs/S) was used as cathode materials for lithium–sulfur batteries in this paper. The MoO3, as a polar transition metal oxide, has strong chemisorption on polysulfides, which can effectively alleviate the shuttle effect. Meanwhile, the flake-like MoO3 can effectively immobilize the active substance sulfur. Furthermore, CNTs have excellent conductivity and abundant nanometer reaction sites. Benefitting from the synergistic effects of MoO3 and conductive CNTs, the MoO3/CNTs/S cathode exhibits the superior electrochemical performance. The initial specific discharge capacity of MoO3/CNTs/S cathode is 1237.0 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C. The initial specific discharge capacity of MoO3/CNTs/S cathode is 976.9 mAh g−1, and there is a reversible capacity of 391.4 mAh g−1 after 800 cycles, and the capacity decay rate is 0.075% at 0.5 C. The MoO3/CNTs/S cathode can be used as a good candidate for high-performance lithium–sulfur battery.