Biomass-derived high value-added porous carbon as the interlayer material for advanced lithium–sulfur batteries

Herein, an intrinsic porous light biomass is utilized as an environmentally friendly precursor to prepare high value-added porous carbon as the interlayer material for advanced lithium sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Various material characterization methods are utilized to investigate the obtained porous carbon and found that it exhibits three-dimensional interconnected porous structures with the characteristics of defective graphite structure. Its specific surface calculated by BET method is 300.4 m2 g−1. It can productively curb polysulfide shuttle and boost the cycling performance and rate capability of the battery. The first capacity of Li–S battery with this porous carbon is 905.6 mAh g−1 at 1 C, and it maintains 464.8 mAh g−1 even over 500 cycles. More significantly, special microstructures derived from natural growth avoid complicated preparation processes, and it opens up new alternatives for Li–S batteries.